"The spectral signature of ozone, a distinctive absorption band at [ultraviolet] wavelengths, was rather pronounced and we could clearly discern it in our plots with the naked eye."
The ozone layer is estimated to float between 90 and 120 km high in the atmosphere of Venus, and is always confined to a rather thin layer, measuring 5 to10 km across.The altitude of the ozone on Venus is three to four times higher and its density 1,000 times less than the Earth's ozone layer.
What is the ozone layer?
The ozone layer is a deep layer in the stratosphere, encircling the Earth, that has large amounts of ozone in it. The layer shields the entire Earth from much of the harmful ultraviolet radiation that comes from the sun.
Interestingly, it is also this ultraviolet radiation that forms the ozone in the first place. Ozone is a special form of oxygen, made up of three oxygen atoms rather than the usual two oxygen atoms. It usually forms when some type of radiation or electrical discharge separates the two atoms in an oxygen molecule (O2), which can then individually recombine with other oxygen molecules to form ozone (O3).Read more