We live in a space where we are all constantly surrounded by things that we didn't expect to see. From the very minute we wake up until the minute we sleep, we are exposed to various types of matter that we never knew existed. While most people have no idea about these strange phenomena, there are some that know more than anyone. Charles Fabry and Henri Buisson were two scientists who have dedicated their lives to exploring the unknown. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at what these scientists have discovered.
Who Discovered the Ozone Layer?
In 1913, French physicists Henri Buisson and Charles Fabry discovered that an ozone layer existed in the upper atmosphere. Measurements of the sun showed that the radiation it sends out to the ground is usually consistent with the spectrum of a black body with a temperature in the range of 5,500 – 6,000 K, except that there was no radiation below a wavelength of about 310 nm at the ultraviolet end of the spectrum.
It was deduced that the missing radiation was being absorbed by something in the atmosphere. Fabry and Buisson used the Fabry-Pérot interferometer to measure the Doppler effect on the light in the laboratory. Then, in the 1913 experiment, they matched the spectrum of the missing radiation to only one known chemical, ozone. Hence, discovering that the ultraviolet absorption in the Earth’s upper atmosphere was due to the ozone layer.
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Charles Fabry and Henri Buisson: Was there always an Ozone Layer?
The answer is no. The ozone has three oxygen atoms, and it is the result of the action of Ultra Violet (UV) radiation on oxygen molecules, composed of two oxygen atoms.
Before plants evolved on the planet, there was no ozone layer. Because plants are responsible for converting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into oxygen molecules. So, life on Earth actually began to evolve before there was an ozone layer. Evidently, the ozone layer is the result of a natural process of the Earth’s atmosphere that has been ongoing since the beginning of the Earth’s existence.
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