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Nitrogen airglow sources - Comparison of Triton, Titan, and earthThe individual contributions of direct solar excitation, photoelectron excitation, and magnetospheric electron excitation of Triton and Titan airglow observed by the Voyager Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UVS) are quantified. The principal spectral features of Triton's airglow are shown to be consistent with precipitation of magnetospheric electrons with power dissipation about 500 million W. Solar excitation rates of the dominant N2 and N(+) emission features are factors of 2-7 weaker than magnetospheric electron excitation. On Titan, the calculated disk center and bright limb N(+) 1085 A intensities due to solar excitation agree with observed values, while the 970 A feature is mostly N21 c5 band emission. The calculated LBH intensity by photoelectrons suggests that magnetospheric electrons play a minor role in Titan's UV airglow. On earth, solar/photoelectron excitation explains the observed N(+) 1085 A and LBH intensites and accounts for only 40 percent of the N(+) 916 A intensity.
Document ID
19910050764
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Strobel, Darrell F.
(Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD, United States)
Meier, R. R.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Summers, Michael E.
(U.S. Navy, E.O. Hulburt Center for Space Research, Washington DC, United States)
Strickland, Douglas J.
(Computational Physics, Inc. Annandale, VA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
April 1, 1991
Publication Information
Publication: Geophysical Research Letters
Volume: 18
ISSN: 0094-8276
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
91A35387
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-1181
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-648
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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