Discovery of the atomic oxygen green line in the Venus night airglow.

Green line emission at 557.7 nanometers arising from the O(1S - 1D) transition of atomic oxygen has been observed on the nightside of Venus with HIRES, the echelle spectrograph on the W. M. Keck I 10-meter telescope. We also observe optical emissions of molecular oxygen, consistent with the spectra from the Venera orbiters, but our green line intensity is so high that we cannot explain how it could be inconspicuous in the Venera spectra. An upper limit for the intensity of the O(1D - 3P) oxygen red line at 630 nanometers has also been obtained. The large green/red ratio indicates that the source is not associated with the Venus ionosphere. An important conclusion is that observation of the green line in a planetary atmosphere is not an indicator of an atmosphere rich in molecular oxygen.

Discovery of calcium in Mercury's atmosphere.

The composition and evolutionary history of Mercury's crust are not well determined. The planet as a whole has been predicted to have a refractory, anhydrous composition: rich in Ca, Al, Mg and Fe, but poor in Na, K, OH, and S. Its atmosphere is believed to be derived in large part from the surface materials. A combination of effects that include impact vaporization (from infalling material), volatile evaporation, photon-stimulated desorption and sputtering releases material from the surface to form the atmosphere. Sodium and potassium have already been observed in Mercury's atmosphere, with abundances that require a volatile-rich crust. The sodium probably results from photon-stimulated desorption, and has a temperature of 1,500 K (ref. 10). Here we report the discovery of calcium in the atmosphere near Mercury's poles. The column density is very low and the temperature is apparently very high (12,000 K). The localized distribution and high temperature, if confirmed, suggest that the atmospheric calcium may arise from surface sputtering by ions, which enter Mercury's auroral zone. The low abundance of atmospheric Ca may indicate that the regolith is rarefied in calcium.