Night Airglow Radiation at 2972 .

In a rocket experiment designed to record the far ultraviolet spectrum of aii aurora from Fort Churchill, H. M. Crosswhite, E. C. Zipf, and W. G. Fastie (J. Opt. Soc. Am. 52, 643, 1962) reported measuring the EO I~11 atomic oxygen line radiation at 2972 A due to the forbidden transition (3P1 - 15o). In addition to recording this as an intense radiation during an aurora they reported observing the 0 1 radiation at a time when no visible aurora was present. The Naval Research Laboratory recently obtained photoelectric night airglow measurements from a photometer sensitive to a 52 A (hw) band centered at 2985 A from a rocket flight at White Sands, New Mexico. The absolute intensity of radiation within the band derived as a function of altitude is discussed. Variations of intensity as a function of parts of the sky observed are to be noted.