• Question: is there any air in space

    Asked by harry to Kevin, Liz, Beccy, Rosie on 19 Jun 2017.
    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 19 Jun 2017:


      Not out in the middle of space. But there are gases around some planets and indeed gas giants like Jupiter.

    • Photo: Rebecca Corkill

      Rebecca Corkill answered on 19 Jun 2017:


      Space is almost a perfect vacuum, but gas and dust particles do float around out there.
      Most of the air is held by earth because of earth’s gravity.

    • Photo: Rosie Fok

      Rosie Fok answered on 20 Jun 2017:


      I knew the answer was “No” but had to look up the following to give you a more helpful answer (Scientists don’t always know the answer, in fact often we don’t, but training in science teaches you how to find information and use it to answer questions – that is why studying science is so useful in life, even if you don’t end up working in the exact field that you studied. It’s all about the transferable skills.)

      “There is no air in space because there is no gravity to condense the molecules of gases found there into air. On Earth, gravity holds nitrogen, oxygen and the other gases that compose the atmosphere together, but only to about 60 miles above the surface.”

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