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Characteristics of the spacecraft optical glow
Author(s) -
Yee JengHwa,
Abreu V. J.,
Dalgarno A.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl011i012p01192
Subject(s) - daytime , spacecraft , airglow , environmental science , satellite , atmosphere (unit) , plasma , atmospheric sciences , intensity (physics) , on board , oxygen , physics , remote sensing , meteorology , optics , astronomy , geology , quantum mechanics
The optical glow induced by spacecraft‐environment interaction under daytime conditions is analyzed using photometric data obtained by the Visible Airglow Experiment on board the Atmosphere Explorer Satellite. Because of the increased ambient oxygen density, the glow is more intense in the daytime. The daytime production efficiency, measured in Rayleighs per oxygen atom, is similar to the nighttime value. No dependence of the glow intensity on the ambient plasma density was found. The production efficiency increased with time throughout the duration of the spacecraft in orbit.