Long-term Observations of Sodium on Mercury

Details Long-term Observations of Sodium on Mercury Long-term Observations of Sodium on Mercury

May 2003

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003dps....35.3305p&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #35, #33.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 35, p.975

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

1

Scientific paper

We are re-processing Mercury sodium observations that were obtained during the past decade. The main products are planetary sodium images chosen for the best seeing conditions, and planetary-average sodium column densities derived from the D1 emission intensity to minimize errors from optical thickness of the sodium. Some image sequences are constant and stable, while others display day-to-day changes that may be correlated with solar activity. Most of the images show peak sodium intensities in southern latitudes. A few images show both north and south peaks, and another few show a northern latitude peak only. The planetary-average sodium column densities are mostly in the range 1-2 x 1011 atoms per cm2 column, but occasionally are a factor of three higher or lower. The column densities are a maximum at both aphelion and perihelion, suggesting that solar radiation acceleration pressure reduces sodium density between aphelion and perihelion. This work is supported by the NASA Planetary Astronomy Program.

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