This is the temperature profile of Uranus' mesosphere.
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Image from: Arizona Press

Uranus' Mesosphere Temperature Profile

This is the temperature profile of Uranus' mesosphere. The temperature is the same at all heights until the mesopause, or "top" of the mesosphere is reached. As shown in the figure, the mesopause is placed at 1 millionth of a bar of pressure (one million times less than the pressure at the surface of Earth), at the elbow where the temperature again begins to increase with height. Pressure is a relative way of measuring the altitude where changes happen. It is relative because there is no way to know the exact location of the surface of Uranus. Nevertheless, a millionth of a bar of pressure corresponds to about miles in altitude above the tropopause in Uranus' atmosphere.

The graph shows that the temperature is about 170 kelvins (-153° F) for about 200 km (124 miles or 656,000 ft.). Compare the changes in the mesosphere with those in the thermosphere.

For a picture showing how the temperature changes in whole atmosphere, click here.

Last modified May 28, 2010 by Randy Russell.

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