Abstract
Ackerman et al.1 have reported experimental evidence for the existence of a dust layer at an altitude of 60 km (see ref. 2). Using their extinction measurements at 0.44 and 0.65 µm, they concluded that these dust particles are “made out of brownish matter”. They did not, however, speculate on what this matter might be. Nor did they estimate the size of the particles, other than that they are much smaller than the wavelengths of visible light. Our analysis, using their data, suggests that the particles are composed of haematite (α-Fe2O3) and have radii around 200 Å. Experimental evidence either to support or to refute this condition could be provided by measurements in the UV, especially near 0.34 and 0.40 µm.
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References
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Bohren, C., Olivero, J. Evidence for haematite particles at 60 km altitude. Nature 310, 216–218 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/310216a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/310216a0
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