Stargazing Guy

– Sir Fred Hoyle FRS (24 June 1915 – 20 August 2001) Observer 9 September 1979 ‘Sayings of the Week’

Where does space start? It’s ‘up there’, but where?

Most people would say it’s above the atmosphere, but where does the atmosphere stop?

There is no sharp boundary line, like the equator, where you can stand with one leg in the Southern hemisphere and the other leg in the Northern hemisphere.

It depends on several facts and views, but generally speaking space begins around 100 km (62 miles) straight up from the Earth’s surface. This is the Kármán Line, the internationally accepted boundary of space.

So, if you were in a car and could drive ‘up’ at 100 kph (or 62 mph) you could be in outer space in an hour!

Who knew?!

____________________________________________________________________

PS: I love coffee. BuyMeACoffee, leave a message with a date and time and we can share it, remotely, at the same time, and think about the Cosmos.

In the meantime, take care of yourself and if you can, someone else, too, because as Adam Smith said, “we naturally desire not only to be loved but to be lovely”.

Remember, hope lives here.

Credit for image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Institute_of_Astronomy,statue_of_Sir_Fred_Hoyle-geograph.org.uk-_372582.jpg

Contact Stargazing Guy for any copyright-related requests or queries @ stargazer1@stargazingguy.co.uk