Observations of Lyman-α emissions of hydrogen and deuterium

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Authors
Bertaux, J.L.
Goutail, F.
Kockarts, G.
Discipline
Physical sciences
Audience
Scientific
Date
1984Metadata
Show full item recordDescription
A spectrophotometer was flown on Spacelab 1 to study various mechanisms of Lyman-α emission in the upper atmosphere. The use of absorption cells filled with H2 and D2 gases allowed us to discriminate a number of weak Lyman-α emissions heretofore masked by the strong H geocoronal emission due to resonance scattering of solar photons. Preliminary results are presented on three topics: the first optical detection of the deuterium Lyman-α emission at 110 kilometers, with an intensity of 330 rayleighs indicating an eddy diffusion coefficient of 1.3 × 106 square centimeters per second; auroral proton precipitations seen on both the night and the day side; and an emission located above 250 kilometers of altitude, interpreted as the result of charge exchange of magnetospheric protons with geocoronal atoms.
Citation
Bertaux, J.L.; Goutail, F.; Kockarts, G. (1984). Observations of Lyman-α emissions of hydrogen and deuterium. , Science, Vol. 225, Issue 4658, 174-176, DOI: 10.1126/science.225.4658.174.Identifiers
scopus: 2-s2.0-0021576437
Type
Article
Peer-Review
Yes
Language
eng