where does the thermosphere begin
In this lesson, we're going to cover the thermosphere, the layer of atmosphere right before we get to outer space. To understand where the thermosphere is, we need to understand the other layers of the atmosphere starting from Earth's surface. Near the surface to about 7 miles above is the troposphere. This is where clouds we see in the sky are. Near the edge of the troposphere and into the next layer, the stratosphere, is where airplanes fly. The stratosphere extends from 7 miles above the surface to about 20 miles above the surface. After the stratosphere is the mesosphere, which extends upward to 50 miles above the surface. After the mesosphere, we have our focus layer for today, the thermosphere. The thermosphere extends from about 50 miles above the surface of Earth to about 600 miles above our planet. Beyond that is the exosphere, which is the layer that turns into outer space at the edge.