Between Earth and space, between what geologists and astronomers study, is the atmosphere. It separates the vastness of the universe from the solidity of rock, yet the air we breathe is as tenuous and untouchable as light.

Astronomers and stargazers view the atmosphere as a hindrance. They want to see stars and galaxies and other objects whose light travels billions of light-years across the cosmos, but if the gamma and x-rays aren't blocked, the radio and visible light are distorted by the atmosphere in the final miles.

These photographs [Sky Scenes Image Gallery] can help the rest of us understand and see the intangible atmosphere and the many ways it transforms and distorts light.

The atmosphere is divided into five layers. The lowest layer is the troposphere, where we live, mostly in the warmer and denser bottom parts of this 10-mile (16-kilometer) thick oxygen oasis. But three to six miles up, around the height of Mt. Everest, the temperatures drop and ice crystals form.

The crystals can take various shapes but are usually hexagonal prisms -- either wide and flat like a pancake, or long and skinny like a pencil. The crystals reflect and refract incoming sunlight and moonlight (which is, in turn, reflected sunlight) and create numerous patterns in the sky.

A common sight is the 22-degree halo, which is called such because the ring of light is separated from the light source by 22 degrees in the sky, about the distance between your outstretched thumb and pinky finger at arm's length.

Halos can be seen around both the Sun and the Moon, but they may not be as noticeable in the daytime because, well, it's dangerous to look directly at the Sun.

Rob Fosbury, an astronomer with the European Southern Observatory in Germany, has an amateur's interest in these atmospheric displays and often, with a camera handy, he looks up to try and spot them. He has taken many photos of halos and similarly common features such as sundogs, or parhela, parhelic circles, and upper tangential arcs. He has also photographed less common displays, such as Lowitz arcs, which are formed, scientists believe, through a complex combination of reflection and refraction of light as the hexagonal prism ice crystals fall.

In addition to the Sun and Moon, atmospheric ice crystals can tweak the light of other bright objects, such as Venus. Carol Lakomiak, an amateur photographer from Wisconsin, photographed a very rare exhibition of our planetary neighbor with pillars, or small jets of light shooting out of the top and bottom. While the jets seem to emanate from Venus, the are a product of light’s interaction with Earth’s atmosphere.

While the upper reaches of the troposphere can reach temperatures low enough to form ice crystals even over the tropics, the mesosphere gets even more extreme. It begins about 25 miles (40 kilometers) above the surface of the Earth and can reach temperatures of -225 degrees Fahrenheit (-143 C).

Ice freezes on dust and other particles in these frigid conditions, generating so-called noctilucent clouds that can be seen from higher, more polar latitudes.

When the Sun is slightly below the horizon, such as in high-latitude summers, it illuminates the mesospheric ice. These noctilucent clouds appear white or pearly in color and can have a wavy, web-like structure.

The coldest temperatures in the atmosphere can be found in the mesosphere, but above it is the thermosphere, where the hottest temperatures are found. The thermosphere fades imperceptibly into the exosphere and space and absorbs some of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation, heating it to more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,650 C).

This layer is also what protects Earthlings and their pets from solar flares and other eruptions.

When the Sun acts up in this way, the particles travel along Earth's magnetic field toward the north and south poles. Electrons are stripped from the atoms, and when they rejoin their now positively charged molecular homes, energy is released in the form of colored light, creating auroras, much to the delight of Alaskan photographers such as Dennis Anderson.

While many of these atmospheric shows are rare and complex and may require a parka and a plane ticket to see them, there are more common phenomena that can be viewed locally.

Lauri Kangas, an amateur photographer from Canada, photographed a particularly stunning crepuscular ray event on a hot and humid evening this past September. Crepuscular rays are formed when sunlight streams through clouds, forming rays resembling a child's drawing. They appear to diverge, but actually are parallel; distance creates an optical illusion.

"Shooting stars" are visible also from anywhere, as long as there's sufficient darkness and a meteor entering the atmosphere. Most meteors are formed when a sand-sized particle burns up in the atmosphere. The extreme relative velocities of the Earth and the particle enhance the energy released in such a collision.

Meteor activity can peak when Earth travels through a cloud of space dust, such as during the Leonid and Perseid meteor showers, given those names because the meteors seem to emanate from the constellations Leo and Perseus.

Larger meteors can also generate fireballs or leave behind vapor trails of debris. Mike Hutchinson, a businessman from Muncie, Indiana, was watching the Leonid shower last year when he heard a pop. He looked up and saw a smoke ring, and fortuitously had his camera equipment out to capture the trail as it dissipated.

While the atmosphere may be one person’s bane, it is a boon to Hutchison and other photographers and skywatchers who are rewarded with light shows put on by the border between Earth and space. To see the photos discussed in this story, along with others, view our new Sky Scenes Image Gallery.