Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008epsc.conf..311p&link_type=abstract
European Planetary Science Congress 2008, Proceedings of the conference held 21-25 September, 2008 in Münster, Germany. Online a
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Abstract Groundbased observations of the sodium exospheric emission at Mercury taken at the McMathPierce Solar Telescope at Kitt Peak, Arizona, were conducted during the period of January 1018, 2008. During these observations, we mapped the distribution of sodium D2 emission over the planet. The procedure for mapping sodium using an image slicer and tiptilt image stabilization has been described by Potter et al. [1]. The emission maps were used to construct maps of sodium column density. Herein we discuss the temporal and spatial variability of the sodium emission on the observed side of planet. Maps of surface reflectance in the continuum near the sodium D2 line (left ) and column abundance of sodium in the exosphere (right) are shown for January 12, 13 and 14, in Figures 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The maximum column density was in the range 1.15 to 1.40 x 1011 atoms/cm2 during this period. The sodium distribution is uneven, with higher values of column density at high southern and northern E P S C EPSC Abstracts, Vol. 3, EPSC2008-A-00311, 2008 European Planetary Science Congress, Author(s) 2008 latitudes. This may be the effect of solar radiation acceleration [2] which was near its maximum value, ranging from 164 to 171 cm/sec2, or 0.44 to 0.46 of surface gravity. As a consequence of high radiation pressure, sodium atoms are driven to high latitudes. However, the distribution for January 12 shows a considerable excess in high southern latitudes, suggesting a source of sodium at those latitudes. This dataset brackets observations taken with the Ultraviolet and Visible Spectrometer (UVVS) on the Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS) instrument [3] onboard the MESSENGER spacecraft [4] during the first flyby of the planet, January 14, 2008. An analogy between both data sets will be discussed. References [1] Potter, A.E., Plymate C., Keller C., Killen R.M., and Morgan T.H. (2006) Adv. Space Res. 38, 599603. [2] Potter, A.E., R. M. Killen, M. Sarantos. (2006) Icarus, 181, 112. [3] McClintock, W. E., and Lankton, M.R. (2007) Space Sci. Rev. 131, 481522. [4] Solomon, S. C., et al. (2001) Planet. Space Sci. 49, 14451465. Acknowledgements: The National Solar Observatory is funded by the National Science Foundation. Groundbased observations were funded by the NASA Planetary Astronomy Program. MESSENGER is a NASA Discovery mission.
Killen Rosemary Margaret
Mouawad Nelly
Potter Andrew E.
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