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Science 16 August 1985:
Vol. 229. no. 4714, pp. 651 - 653
DOI: 10.1126/science.229.4714.651
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Articles

Discovery of Sodium in the Atmosphere of Mercury

ANDREW POTTER 1 and THOMAS MORGAN 2

1 Space Science Branch, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 77058
2 Department of Physics, Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas 78626

The spectrum of Mercury at the Fraunhofer sodium D lines shows strong emission features that are attributed to resonant scattering of sunlight from sodium vapor in the atmosphere of the planet. The total column abundance of sodium was estimated to be 8.1 x 1011 atoms per square centimeter, which corresponds to a surface density at the subsolar point of about 1.5 x 105 atoms per cubic centimeter. The most abundant atmospheric species found by the Mariner 10 mission to Mercury was helium, with a surface density of 4.5 x 103 atoms per cubic centimeter. It now appears that sodium vapor is a major constituent of Mercury's atmosphere.

Submitted on April 1, 1985
Accepted on June 12, 1985


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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Mercury's Magnetosphere After MESSENGER's First Flyby.
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Mercury's Exosphere: Observations During MESSENGER's First Mercury Flyby.
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Understanding the Lunar Surface and Space-Moon Interactions.
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Evidence for a basalt-free surface on Mercury and implications for internal heat.
R Jeanloz, D. Mitchell, A. Sprague, and I de Pater (1995)
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Caloris Basin: An Enhanced Source for Potassium in Mercury's Atmosphere.
A. L. Sprague, A. L. Sprague, R. W. H. Kozlowski, and D. M. Hunten (1990)
Science 249, 1140-1143
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Evidence for Magnetospheric Effects on the Sodium Atmosphere of Mercury.
A. E. Potter and T. H. Morgan (1990)
Science 248, 835-838
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Discovery of Sodium and Potassium Vapor in the Atmosphere of the Moon.
A. E. Potter, A. E. Potter, and T. H. Morgan (1988)
Science 241, 675-680
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