Nightglow in the Upper Atmosphere of Mars and Implications for Atmospheric Transport

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Bertaux, Jean-Loup, Leblanc, François, Perrier, Séverine, Quémerais, Eric, Korablev, Oleg, Dimarellis, Emmanuel, Reberac, Aurélie, Forget, François, C. Simon, P., Stern, S.A., Sandel, Bill R.
• Other Authors: Service d'aéronomie (SA), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IKI), Russian Academy of Sciences Moscow (RAS), Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris, École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL), Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy / Institut d'Aéronomie Spatiale de Belgique (BIRA-IASB), Southwest Research Institute Boulder (SwRI), Lunar and Planetary Laboratory Tucson (LPL), University of Arizona
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2005
• Subjects: Atmosphère planétaire; Planète mars; [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean; Atmosphere; [SDU.ASTR]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]; polar night
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00069766; https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1106957

International audience We detected light emissions in the nightside martian atmosphere with the SPICAM (spectroscopy for the investigation of the characteristics of the atmosphere of Mars) ultraviolet (UV) spectrometer on board the Mars Express. The UV spectrum of this nightglow is composed of hydrogen Lyman emission (121.6 nanometers) and the and bands of nitric oxide (NO) (190 to 270 nanometers) produced when N and O atoms combine to produce the NO molecule. N and O atoms are produced by extreme UV photodissociation of O2, CO2, and N2 in the dayside upper atmosphere and transported to the night side. The NO emission is brightest in the winter south polar night because of continuous downward transport of air in this region at night during winter and because of freezing at ground level.