Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-xm8r8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-19T13:28:27.734Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

21. Light of the Night Sky

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2016

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The light of the night sky consists of atmospheric components (airglow, light scattered in the atmosphere) and – even in the case of spaceborne observations – of zodiacal, galactic and extragalactic light. Although all components are of similar importance, investigations on zodiacal light have profitted most by the space age since their object of research, the interplanetary dust cloud, became accessible to direct in-situ measurements. Lunar samples and measurements by micrometeoroid detectors provide individual and eventually detailed information on impact events, which however are limited in number and therefore restricted in statistical significance. Zodiacal light investigations involve scattered light of many particles in large volume elements and therefore provide global information about physical properties and spatial distribution of interplanetary dust grains, however just in terms of average values. Therefore both sources of information are complementary and a synthesis can only be achieved by synoptic interpretation of zodiacal light, micrometeoroid, and meteoroid investigations also including dynamical aspects. Measurements of zodiacal light (and emission) from rockets, manned or non manned spacecraft, and deep space probes gained drastically in importance compared to ground based observations. On the other hand investigations on airglow have become more and more a topic of geophysics Caeronomy). They remain relevant however to astronomy as far as photometric features are concerned. These general trends continued in the last triennium and have influenced the activities of our commission.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1985

References

Martin, Alvarez 1981, Thesis, University of Canary Islands Google Scholar
Barbieri, C and Nota, A 1983, Preprint University of Padova (in Italian)Google Scholar
Fishkova, L M 1983, “The night airglow of the Earth mid-latitude upper atmosphere” (in Russian) ‘Metsniereba’ Publ. House Tbilisi Google Scholar
Gavrilov, M M, Shved, G M 1982, Ann. de Geophys. 38 N6, p. 789 Google Scholar
BAS, Gustafson and Misconi, N Y 1983, pg. 121 in Gombosi, T.I. (ed) “Proc. Internat. Conf. on Cometary Exploration”, Budapest Google Scholar
Hodge, P W 1981, “Interplanetary Dust”, Gordon and Breach New York, London, Paris, Montreux, Tokyo Google Scholar
Kinateder, G 1983, Thesis Ruhr-Universitat Bochum Google Scholar
Lyutyj, V M and Sharov, A S 1982, Astron J Acad Sci USSR Moskow 59, p. 174 (in Russian)Google Scholar
Megrelishvili, T G 1981, “Regularities of the Variations of the Scattered Light and Emission of the Earth Twilight Atmosphere”, (in Russian, ) ‘MetsnierebaPubl. House, Tbilisi Google Scholar
Mujica, A 1981, Thesis, Univ. of Canary Islands Google Scholar
Mukai, S T, Giese, R H, Weiss, K, Zerull, R H 1982, The Moon and the Planets 26, p. 197 Google Scholar
Pelletanne, B 1982, Thesis, University of Bordeaux IGoogle Scholar
Perrin, J M and Lamy, P L 1983, Optica. Acta 30, p. 1223 Google Scholar
Shestakova, L I,Sheglow, P V 1983, Astronomic Circular N 1286, p. 6 Google Scholar
Takahashi, H, Sahi, Y and Batista, P P 1984, Planet. Space Sci. 32, p. 897 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thielheim, K O (ed) 1984, WorkshopKleine Teilchen und Lichtstreuung”, Verhandlungen Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft 7 Google Scholar
Verlhac, A 1983, Thesis, University of Paris 6 Google Scholar
Toller, G N 1983, Thesis, State University of N.Y. at Stony Brook Google Scholar