Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....41.3503m&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #35.03
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
A Boston University all-sky camera situated in the El Leoncito Observatory in Argentina has been monitoring the skies nightly since April 2006 to study mesospheric phenomena. One of the several filters used for this CCD camera system is for narrow-band sodium (D1 + D2) emission. In addition to terrestrial effects, observations capture low level brightness features traced to lunar origin. In what is considered to be the largest continuous dataset for lunar sodium, this work represents the results of over 3 years of monitoring the extended tail of the Moon. The extended lunar sodium tail can be observed by this method for a few nights centered on New Moon. The brightness of the extended lunar tail is calibrated in Rayleighs using standard stars. We use the time history of brightness variations, from month to month, as a proxy for studying variability in mechanisms responsible for the generation of lunar sodium capable of escape. The period of our observations of the extended lunar sodium tail overlaps with an epoch of minimal solar activity, as well as years of non-prominent meteor showers, resulting in minimal variations in some of the main source processes. Thus we see no strong correlations between tail brightness and potential sources (solar photon-stimulated desorption, solar wind sputtering, micro-meteor impacts). Further progress awaits a more favorable period of potential source variations.
Matta M. M.
Mendillo Michael
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