Atmosphere

What is the atmosphere? The atmosphere is the region containing gases that surrounds the surface of a planet or moon.

This is a storm in the atmosphere of Jupiter.

On the Earth the atmosphere is made up mostly of nitrogen and oxygen with small amounts of carbon dioxide and water vapour.

Mercury has a very thin atmosphere which contains hydrogen and helium which have probably come from the Sun nearby.

Venus has an atmosphere which includes huge amounts of carbon dioxide and nitrogen with clouds containing sulphuric acid.

Mars has a very thin atmosphere containing carbon dioxide and nitrogen. The winds in the atmosphere create dust storms that last for many days.

Our Moon does not have an atmosphere but Triton, a moon of Neptune, has a very thin atmosphere of nitrogen with a little methane and carbon monoxide.

The gas planets have enormously thick atmospheres, mainly of methane.

The Earth's atmosphere.

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