Abstract
The paper is devoted to studies of the oxygen 1.27 μm emission on the Venus nightside using nadir measurements with the imaging spectrometer VIRTIS. A map of the emission distribution in coordinates latitude-local time is drawn for the southern hemisphere, equatorial region, and low latitudes of the northern hemisphere on the basis of observations in the period from June 2006 to January 2008 (more than 600 runs). As it has been noted before, strong spatial and time variations of the emission were observed. Two maxima of the emission are found: the first one (expected) is observed near the antisolar point, and the second one (near 23:00 LT) is seen at latitudes of 30°–60° in the southern hemisphere. The average value of the emission intensity measured according to the nadir data is 1.0 ± 0.4 MR. The emission with the intensity exceeding the average one by a factor of 2–3 was detected at different times almost over the entire nightside of the southern hemisphere.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Krasnopolskii, V.A., Krysko, A.L., Rogachev, V.N., and Parshev, V.L., Spectroscopy of the Night Glow of Venus from Orbiters Venera 9 and Venera 10 Probes, Kosm. Issled., 1976, vol. 14, pp. 789–795. [Cosmic Research, p. 677].
Connes, P., Noxon, J.F., Traub, W.A., and Carleton, N., O2(a1Δg) Emission in the Day and Night Airglow of Venus, Astrophys. J., 1979, vol. 233, pp. L29–L32.
Crisp, D., Meadows, V.S., Bezard, B., et al., Ground-Based Near-Infrared Observations of the Venus Nightside: 1.27 μm O2(a1Δg) Airglow from the Upper Atmosphere, J. Geophys. Res., 1996, vol. 101, pp. 4577–4594.
Ohtsuki, S.N., Iwagami, N., Sagawa, H., et al., Ground-Based Observations of Venus 1.27-μm O2 Airglow, Adv. Space Res., 2005, vol. 36, pp. 2038–2042.
Bailey, J., Meadows, V.S., Chamberlain, S., and Crisp, D., The Temperature of the Venus Mesosphere from O2(a1Δg) Airglow Observations, Icarus, 2008, vol. 197, pp. 247–259.
Hueso, R., Sánchez-Lavega, A., Piccioni, G., et al., Morphology and Dynamics of Venus Oxygen Airglow from Venus Express/Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer Observations, J. Geophys. Res., 2008, vol. 113, E00B02. doi: 10.1029/2008JE003081.
Mills, F.P. and Allen, M., A Review of Selected Issues Concerning the Chemistry in Venus’ Middle Atmosphere, Planet. Space Sci., 2007, vol. 55, pp. 1729–1740.
Huestis, D.L., Current Laboratory Experiments for Planetary Aeronomy, in Atmospheres in Solar System: Comparative Aeronomy, vol. 130 of Geophys. Monogr. Ser., 2002, pp. 245–258.
Bougher, S.W. and Borucki, W.J., Venus O2 Visible and IR Nightglow: Implication for Lower Thermosphere Dynamics and Chemistry, J. Geophys. Res., 1994, vol. 99, pp. 3759–3776.
Gamache, R.R. and Goldman, A., Einstein A Coefficient, Integrated Band Intensity, and Population Factors: Application to the (a1Δg)−X3Σ −g (0, 0) Band, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transfer, 2001, vol. 69, pp. 389–401.
Slanger, T.G. and Copeland, R.A., Energetic Oxygen in the Upper Atmosphere and the Laboratory, Chem. Rev., 2003, vol. 103, pp. 4731–4765.
Spalek, O., Kodymova, J., Stopka, P., and Micek, I., Experimental Verification of the Einstein A-Coefficient Used for Evaluation of O2(a1Δg) Concentration in the Chemical Oxygen-Iodine Laser, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys., 1999, vol. 32, pp. 1885–1892.
Gierasch, P.J., et al., The General Circulation of the Venus Atmosphere: An Assessment, in Venus II: Geology, Geophysics, Atmosphere, and Solar Wind Environment, Bougher, S.W., et al., Eds., Tucson: Univ. of Ariz. Press, 1997, pp. 459–500.
Markiewicz, W.J., Titov, D.V., Limaye, S.S., et al., Morphology and Dynamics of the Upper Cloud Layer of Venus, Nature, 2007, vol. 450, pp. 633–636.
Limaye, S.S., Venus Atmospheric Circulation: Known and Unknown, J. Geophys. Res., 2007, vol. 112, E04S09. doi: 10.1029/2006JE002814.
Sánchez-Lavega, A., et al. Variable Winds on Venus Mapped in Three Dimensions, Geophys. Res. Lett., 2008, vol. 35, L13204. doi: 10.1029/2008GL033817.
Zasova, L.V., Khatuntsev, I.V., and Linkin, V.M., Zonal Wind in the Middle Atmosphere of Venus, Kosm. Issled., 2000, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 54–70. [Cosmic Research, pp. 49–65].
Zasova, L.V., et al., Structure of the Venus Atmosphere, Planet. Space Sci., 2007, vol. 55, pp. 1712–1728.
Lellouc, E., Clancy T., Crisp D., Kliore A.J., Titov D., and Bougher S.W., Monitoring of Mesospheric Structure and Dynamics: An Assessment, in Venus II: Geology, Geophysics, Atmosphere, and Solar Wind Environment, Bougher, S.W., et al., Eds., Tucson: Univ. of Ariz. Press, 1997, pp. 295–324.
Bougher, S.W., Rafkin, S., and Drossart, P., Dynamics of the Venus Upper Atmosphere: Outstanding Problems and New Constraints Expected from Venus Express, Planet. Space Sci., 2006, vol. 54, pp. 1371–1380.
Alexander, M.J., A Mechanism for the Venus Thermospheric Superrotation, Geophys. Res. Lett., 1992, vol. 19, pp. 2207–2210.
Piccioni, G., et al., VIRTIS: The Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer, Eur. Space Agency Spec. Publ., 2009, vol. 114.
Drossart, P., et al., A Dynamic Upper Atmosphere of Venus as Revealed by VIRTIS on Venus Express, Nature, 2007, vol. 450, pp. 641–645.
Allen, D.A. and Crawford, J.W., Cloud Structure on the Dark Side of Venus, Nature, 1984, vol. 307, pp. 222–224.
Kamp, L.W., Taylor, F.W., and Calcutt, S.B., Structure of Venus’ Atmosphere from Modeling of Night-Side Infrared Spectra, Nature, 1988, vol. 336, pp. 360–362.
Meadows, V.S. and Crisp, D., Ground-Based Near-Infrared Observations of the Venus Nightside: The Thermal Structure and Water Abundance near the Surface, J. Geophys. Res., 1996, vol. 101, pp. 4595–4622.
Tsang, C.C.C., Irwin, P.G.J., Taylor, F.W., and Wilson, C.F., A Correlated-k Model of Radiative Transfer in the Near-Infrared Windows of Venus, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transfer, 2008, vol. 109, pp. 1118–1135.
Zasova, L.V., Moroz, V.I., Linkin, V.M., Khatuntsev, I.V., and Maiorov, B.S., Structure of the Venusian Atmosphere from Surface up to 100 km, Kosm. Issled., 2006, vol. 44, no. 4, pp. 381–400. [Cosmic Research, pp. 364–383].
Ignatiev, N.I., Grassi, D., and Zasova, L.V., Planetary Fourier Spectrometer Data Analysis: Fast Radiative Transfer Models, Planet. Space Sci., 2005, vol. 53, pp. 1035–1042.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Original Russian Text © A.V. Shakun, L.V. Zasova, G. Piccioni, P. Drossart, A. Migliorini, 2010, published in Kosmicheskie Issledovaniya, 2010, Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 239–245.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shakun, A.V., Zasova, L.V., Piccioni, G. et al. Investigation of oxygen O2(a1Δ g ) emission on the nightside of Venus: Nadir data of the VIRTIS-M experiment of the Venus Express mission. Cosmic Res 48, 232–239 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0010952510030044
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0010952510030044