Exploring Ozone

This short video combines dynamic ozone visualizations with an interview with leading atmospheric NASA scientist, Dr. Paul Newman. Dr. Newman explains why ozone is important

Ozone (/ˈoʊzoʊn/) (or trioxygen) is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula O
3. It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope O
2, breaking down in the lower atmosphere to O
2 (dioxygen). Ozone is formed from dioxygen by the action of ultraviolet (UV) light and electrical discharges within the Earth's atmosphere. It is present in very low concentrations throughout the atmosphere, with its highest concentration high in the ozone layer of the stratosphere, which absorbs most of the Sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation.