New Research Reveals Temperature Rule for Planetary Atmospheres

UWAB researchers Tyler Robinson and David Catling have just published research in Nature Geoscience that reveals the reason for the atmospheric “tropopause”— a level in a planet’s atmosphere between the troposphere and stratosphere where the air stops cooling and begins growing warmer. In their paper, Robinson and Catling explain that this effect is likely caused by increased atmospheric transparency to thermal radiation at low pressures. With this knowledge, astronomers may be able to better determine an exoplanet’s potential for habitability and life. A UW News release is available here.