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Science 28 January 2005:
Vol. 307. no. 5709, pp. 566 - 569
DOI: 10.1126/science.1106957
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Reports

Nightglow in the Upper Atmosphere of Mars and Implications for Atmospheric Transport

Jean-Loup Bertaux,1* François Leblanc,1 Séverine Perrier,1 E. Quemerais,1 Oleg Korablev,2 E. Dimarellis,1 A. Reberac,1 F. Forget,3 P. C. Simon,4 S. A. Stern,5 Bill Sandel,6 the SPICAM team{dagger}

We detected light emissions in the nightside martian atmosphere with the SPICAM (spectroscopy for the investigation of the characteristics of the atmosphere of Mars) ultraviolet (UV) spectrometer on board the Mars Express. The UV spectrum of this nightglow is composed of hydrogen Lyman {alpha} emission (121.6 nanometers) and the {gamma} and {delta} bands of nitric oxide (NO) (190 to 270 nanometers) produced when N and O atoms combine to produce the NO molecule. N and O atoms are produced by extreme UV photodissociation of O2, CO2, and N2 in the dayside upper atmosphere and transported to the night side. The NO emission is brightest in the winter south polar night because of continuous downward transport of air in this region at night during winter and because of freezing at ground level.

1 Service d'Aéronomie du CNRS/Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (IPSL), BP.3, 91371, Verrières-le-Buisson, France.
2 Space Research Institute (IKI), 84/32 Profsoyuznaya, 117810 Moscow, Russia.
3 Laboratoire de Méteorologie Dynamique/IPSL, University Paris 6, 75252 Paris, France.
4 Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA), 3 Avenue Circulaire, B-1180 Brussels, Belgium.
5 Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
6 Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, 1541 East University Boulevard, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.



{dagger} Members of the SPICAM team and their affiliations are listed at the end of the References and Notes.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bertaux{at}aerov.jussieu.fr

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
From the Cover: The near-infrared nitric oxide nightglow in the upper atmosphere of Venus.
A. Garcia Munoz, F. P. Mills, G. Piccioni, and P. Drossart (2009)
PNAS 106, 985-988
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