Airglow is the luminosity of an atmosphere that arises from radiative transitions between internal energy states of atoms or molecules; the source of the emissions is ultimately the interaction of solar photons with the atmosphere. Emissions that are produced by the more or less direct interaction of solar radiation with atmospheric gases are classified as dayglow, as are those that are produced by the interaction of atmospheric species with photoelectrons. Nightglow emissions are those that arise from chemiluminescent reactions of fragments or ions that are produced during the day or transported from the dayside. The production mechanisms for twilight glow, which are emissions in sunlit regions of the atmosphere that are observed from the nightside near the terminator, are not conceptually different from dayglow. Airglow is usually distinguished from aurora by the source of the emissions. Auroral emissions are those that originate from excited states of atmospheric species that are...
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Cross references
Absorption, absorption spectrum; Atmosphere; Aurora, planetary; Emissivity; Lyman alpha; Mariner missions; Mars: atmosphere; Pioneer 10/11 missions; Pioneer Venus mission; Radiative transfer; Spectroscopy: atmosphere; Titan; Triton; Ultraviolet spectroscopy; Venera missions; Venus: atmosphere; Voyager missions
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Fox, J.L. (1997). Airglow . In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Science. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4520-4_6
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