The spectrum of the ultraviolet night airglow from 2300 to 3800 A has been recorded with 12-A resolution by a fast spectrograph carried on an Aerobee rocket launched from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, at 0615 UT December 1, 1964. All the features observed at this resolution can be attributed to the molecular oxygen Herzberg band system with the exceptions of the O I transauroral line at 2972 A and five unidentified bands, all lying at wavelengths greater than 3400 A. The Herzberg 7,0 band at 2519 A marks the shortest wavelength emission feature, and, from the band identification, there is no apparent emission from upper states with υ′ > 7. The total zenith emission rate in the wavelength interval photographed is roughly estimated as 600 rayleighs. Details of the spectrograph are described, and the nightglow spectrum is compared with published laboratory afterglow and ground-observed nightglow spectrums.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
J. P. Hennes (1966) studied this question.