Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Oct 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007dps....39.5807s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #39, #58.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.534
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
The O+ ion is an important species in the atmospheres of the three terrestrial planets - Venus, Earth, Mars. It has low-lying metastable states, analogous to the isoelectronic neutral N-atom. Emission from the N(2D) state at 5198,5200 Å is a significant feature in the terrestrial atmosphere, in spite of the fact that its radiative lifetime is on the order of one day, while O+(2D) emission is virtually never seen. In contrast the metastable 2P states of both species are relatively well known - N(2P-2D) at 3466 Å and O+(2P-2D) at 7320-7330 Å. The difference can be traced to rapid collisional deactivation of O+(2D), and thus its observation requires generation at, or displacement to, very high altitudes, much greater than normal ionospheric heights. Such conditions are encountered during intense geomagnetic storms, when ion outflow raises the ionosphere substantially, and we show here that as a result the O+(2D-4S) emission at 3726,3729 Å becomes a prominent nightglow feature, as seen in sky spectra obtained during three storm periods at the VLT in Chile. For Mars and Venus, with weaker magnetic fields, it will be of particular interest to search for this emission while an intense geomagnetic storm is interacting with their ionospheres.
Support for this work was provided by the NASA Planetary Astronomy program under grant NNG04GF46G
Huestis David L.
Sharpee Brian D.
Slanger Tom G.
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