Oxygen airglow emission on Venus and Mars as seen by VIRTIS/VEX and OMEGA/MEX imaging spectrometers

Alessandra Migliorini (1) , Francesca Altieri (2) , Ludmilla Zasova (3) , Giuseppe Piccioni (1) , Giancarlo Bellucci (2) , Alejandro Cardesin Moinelo (4) , Pierre Drossart (5, 6) , E. d'Aversa (2) , F. G. Carrozzo (2) , Brigitte Gondet (7) , Jean-Pierre Bibring (7)

1 IASF-Roma - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica
2 IFSI - Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario
3 IKI - Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
4 ESA-INSA - Eur. Space Agency-Ing. y Servicios Aeroespaciales
5 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
6 Pôle Planétologie du LESIA
7 IAS - Institut d'astrophysique spatiale

Imaging spectrometers are highly effective instruments for investigation of planetary atmospheres. They present the advantage of coupling the compositional information to the spatial distribution, allowing simultaneous study of chemistry and dynamics in the atmospheres of Venus and Mars. In this work, we summarize recent results about the O ₂(a ¹Delta_g) night and day glows, respectively obtained by VIRTIS/Venus Express and OMEGA/Mars Express, the imaging spectrometers currently in orbit around Venus and Mars. The case of the O ₂(a ¹Delta_g - X ³Sigma_g^-) IR emission at 1.27 mum on the night side of Venus and the day side of Mars is analyzed, pointing out dynamical aspects of these planets, like the detection of gravity waves in their atmospheres. The monitoring of seasonal and daily airglow variations provides hints about the photochemistry on these planets.

Domaines: Astrophysique [astro-ph]

Alessandra Migliorini, Francesca Altieri, Ludmilla Zasova, Giuseppe Piccioni, Giancarlo Bellucci, et al.. Oxygen airglow emission on Venus and Mars as seen by VIRTIS/VEX and OMEGA/MEX imaging spectrometers. Planetary and Space Science, 2011, 59, pp.981-987. ⟨10.1016/j.pss.2010.05.019⟩. ⟨hal-03742236⟩