Charles Graft age 8, of Tuscon, Arizona, for his question;

What is the ionosphere?

The atmosphere, or air shell, wraps the round earth in a blanket some 600 to 700 miles deep. It reaches above us in a series of layers. Next to the ground is the troposphere where most of the total weight of the air is concentrated. The troposphere is a restless layer of winds and v‑either reaching some ten miles above our heads. Above this a calm., weather less layer of air called the stratosphere reaches up to 60 miles.

The ionosphere is the thin mysterious layers of air above the stratosphere It is so named because the powerful radiation of the sun shatters electric particles, or ions, from the gassy molecules of air. Temperatures up there sizzle from 200 to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit.

This region of thin, ionized air is the home of the glorious auroras and the place where falling meteors catch fire and flash over the sky. The ionosphere also acts as a sounding board to certain radio waves. Long range radio broadcasting would be impossible without this help from the ionosphere.