Atmosphere
layer of gases surrounding a material body
An atmosphere is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. The name originates from Ancient Greek ἀτμός (atmós) 'vapour, steam' and σφαῖρα (sphaîra) 'sphere'. An object acquires most of its atmosphere during its primordial epoch, either by accretion of matter or by outgassing of volatiles. The chemical interaction of the atmosphere with a solid surface can change its fundamental composition, as can photochemical interaction with the host star. A body retains an atmosphere for longer durations when the gravity is high and the temperature is low. The stellar wind works to strip away a body's outer atmosphere, although this process is slowed by a magnetosphere. The further a body is from its star, the lower the rate of atmospheric stripping.
Aside from Mercury, all Solar System planets have substantial atmospheres, as does the dwarf planet Pluto and the moon Titan. The high gravity and low temperature of Jupiter and the other gas giant planets allow them to retain massive atmospheres of mostly hydrogen and helium. Lower mass terrestrial planets orbit closer to the Sun, and so mainly retain higher molar mass atmospheres made of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, with trace amounts of inert gas.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Atmosphere” is layer of gases surrounding a material body. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Atmosphere, layer and gases, not as a finished interpretation.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8104. The Library of Congress control number is sh85009271. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Atmosphere” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.