--- title: "New Research: Earth’s Atmosphere Extends Well Beyond the Moon" description: "Data collected by NASA and ESA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory reveals that Earth's gaseous layer extends up to 391,000 miles away from Earth." date: "2019-02-20" modified: "2019-02-20" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/earth-atmosphere-beyond-moon" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "Space" tags: - "Astronomy" - "atmosphere" - "earth" - "ESA" - "moon" --- # New Research: Earth’s Atmosphere Extends Well Beyond the Moon ![Data collected by NASA and ESA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory reveals that Earth's gaseous layer extends up to 391,000 miles away from Earth.]() *\Image: ESA\* ## The Geocorona A light layer of hydrogen atoms called the geocorona separates Earth's atmosphere from outer space. And it extends far beyond Earth — much farther than previously believed. Data collected by NASA and the European space agency's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a spacecraft that launched in 1995 to study the Sun, suggests that this gaseous layer extends up to 391,000 miles (630,000 km) from Earth — which, strikingly, is 50 times Earth's diameter and almost twice the distance to the Moon. ## Water Vapor And that's a big deal, because planets with traces of hydrogen in their atmospheres have a much higher chance of containing water on the surface. "This is especially interesting when looking for planets with potential reservoirs of water beyond our Solar System," explained Jean-Loup Bertaux, co-author of the [paper on the new research]() and former principal investigator at ESA, in an [official press release](). ## Empty Space Unfortunately, those extra hydrogen atoms won't be particularly useful for future missions to the Moon. "On Earth we would call it vacuum, so this extra source of hydrogen is not significant enough to facilitate space exploration," said Igor Baliukin of Russia's Space Research Institute and lead author of the paper. But they could make future astronomical observations more accurate by allowing astronomers to take the hydrogen atoms and their associated ultraviolet wavelengths into account. The revelation symbolizes a big win for the SOHO team. "This discovery highlights the value of data collected over 20 years ago and the exceptional performance of SOHO," said Bernhard Fleck, SOHO project scientist at ESA. **READ MORE:** [Earth's atmosphere stretches out to the Moon — and beyond]() \[ESA\] ***More on Earth's atmosphere: [The European Space Agency’s New Ion Thruster “Breathes” Air]()*** ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()