Open AccessAeronomy‐astronomy collaboration focuses on nighttime terrestrial atmosphere
Author(s) -
Slanger T. G.,
Osterbrock D. E.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/98eo00109
Subject(s) - aeronomy , atmosphere (unit) , observatory , astronomy , physics , astrobiology , planetary science , thermosphere , atmospheric physics , meteorology , remote sensing , geography , ionosphere
Measurements at the W. M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, are contributing greatly to a new understanding of chemical and physical processes in the nighttime terrestrial atmosphere. The observations, involving collaboration of aeronomers and astronomers, may begin to answer long‐standing questions concerning dynamics and energy flow in the 80‐110‐km region. Results so far indicate joint aeronomy‐astronomy efforts can have significant impact for both fields. Spectrometers and telescopes, instruments used for ground‐based aeronomy and for astronomy, respectively, point in the same direction—upward. This is a fact which in principle should be synergistic. Astronomers view celestial objects through a foreground of near‐field radiation, much of which is generated in the upper atmosphere and is considered the purview of aeronomers. This disciplinary overlap is not often exploited.