VOYAGER OBSERVATIONS OF THE DIFFUSE FAR-ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION FIELD

Journal Article · Thu Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 2012 · Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0067-0049/199/1/11· OSTI ID:22047959

Murthy, Jayant ^[1]; Henry, Richard Conn ^[2]

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1. Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengalooru 560 034 (India)
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)

The two Voyager spacecraft have completed their planetary exploration mission and are now probing the outer realms of the heliosphere. The Voyager ultraviolet spectrometers continued to operate well after the Voyager 2 Neptune encounter in 1989. We present a complete database of diffuse radiation observations made by both Voyagers: a total of 1943 spectra (500-1600 A) scattered throughout the sky. These include observations of dust-scattered starlight, emission lines from the hot interstellar medium, and a number of locations where no diffuse radiation was detected, with the very low upper limit of about 25 photons cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} sr{sup -1} A{sup -1}. Many of these observations were from late in the mission when there was significantly less contribution from interplanetary emission lines and thus less contamination of the interstellar signal.

• OSTI ID: 22047959
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 199; ISSN 0067-0049; ISSN APJSA2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
COSMIC GASES
COSMIC PHOTONS
DUSTS
EXPLORATION
FAR ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
HELIOSPHERE
INTERPLANETARY SPACE
INTERSTELLAR SPACE
NEPTUNE PLANET
PHOTON EMISSION
ULTRAVIOLET SPECTROMETERS
VOYAGER SPACE PROBES