earth and its atmosphere?

Question

i wanted to know if that anything inside earths atmosphere orbits around with earth?so like if there was a satellite inside earths atmosphere would it stay in the same position around the earth as it orbits?

Answer 1

That's a very technical question. The International Space Station is technically still in our atmosphere, but only to the very picky people. ( our atmosphere exerts about 19 lbs of drag on the ISS, so it's a stretch to say its in our atmosphere)



In order to stay in orbit, an object needs to travel at a very fast pace, that is impossible to maintain without a large amount of fuel due to the drag that the atmosphere would create. Objects the orbit at a geosynchronous position, typically have to orbit at a very great distance. Object close to the atmosphere typically orbit the earth several times a day, something close to every 90 minutes.

Answer 2

The atmosphere isn't in orbit. It's way too slow for that. Except for variations of wind speed, the atmosphere moves with the surface. It has been essentially dragged around the planet as the earth spins and is rotating with the earth.



Nothing in the atmosphere can be in orbit. It would have to be moving so fast that in a few seconds it would burn up in the air, due to friction.



Edit: the person above me has stated that things going out of the atmosphere have escaped the earth's gravity. This is not true. The fact that the moon is held in orbit shows that the earth's gravity is significant, even at that distance. If it wasn't moving forward at a speed which keeps it from getting any closer to the earth, it would fall to the earth and accelerate enough that absolutely no life would be left after the collision.



No part of the atmosphere, even at the top, is moving around the earth nearly fast enough to be in orbit. The business about things falling down is irrelevant.

Answer 3

define atmosphere...The atmosphere doesn't just stop at some point, it merely gets thinner and thinner. Space, meaning the extent of the perceptible atmosphere, is often considered 60 miles up.



Certain low orbit satellites (spy satellites) orbit within the outer limits of the atmosphere. Well beyond what could be breathed, but some traces of gas exist. Those satellites have very short lifespans, as atmospheric drag quickly pulls them down.



To stay in the same position around the earth (also called a geosynchronous orbit) a satellite has to be MUCH further out in space, about 22,500 miles IIRC, at which point its orbital speed matches the earth's rotation and it remains over one spot (if it's orbiting over the equator of course). That is where all the communications satellites live, and they can stay up for very long times.

Answer 4

For all practical purposes, orbiting satellites are outside of the Earth's atmosphere to avoid the friction of gas molecules in the atmosphere.



The Earth's atmosphere is roughly divided into four zones with satellites being up beyond the fourth zone. Do some searches on the Internet for "Earth's Atmosphere" and you will pull up six or seven sites which show pics of the layers of the atmosphere and relative distances in either KM or Miles.

Answer 5

We have an atmosphere because the gravitational attraction of the earth keeps it there. That means that gravity is working within the limit of the atmosphere and anything in the atmosphere stays in place only because the force of gravity is not sufficiently strong to attract it to the earth.



However, there are assumptions here. Balloons for example, "float" in the atmosphere and stay aloft. This means that there is some force counteracting the gravitational force that would otherwise pull it down towards the surface of the earth. The force keeping the ballon in the air is called the bouyant force. In the balloon molecules of air warmer than the surrounding air it is floating in are pressing the balloon in an upward direction. Enough air pressing upward counteracts the force of gravity pulling down. When the these two forces are equal the balloon floats at the same altitude.



Without adding a force to counteract the force of gravity every object in the atmosphere would come crashing to earth. When you escape the earth's gravitational force, you have reached beyond the atmosphere, anything short of reaching that distance will be pulled down.



So, theoretically, the only thing that could potentially orbit around the earth, within the confines of its atmosphere would necessarily have to be lighter than air and sufficiently far away from the center of earth to escape the pull of gravity. To date, only molecules of air are able to pull off this feat and anything else would be pulled to earth over time.



If you wanted to get technical, you could argue that dust can orbit the earth, but it would be tough to say it was a regular motion around the earth because the dust would be subject to other forces, like the friction of air, and collisions with other dust particles that would cause it to lose a orbiting path.

Answer 6

For practical purposes, no. It's theoretically possible but you would have to have enough fuel on the object to continuously overcome atmospheric drag. And it would have to not get really hot and explode, which is a real possibility at these speeds and especially sustaining them for a whole orbit.