A&A 394, 723-727 (2002)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20021148
Excitation and ionization of sodium in meteoroid impacts on the Moon
A. Carbognani1 and G. Cremonese21 Department of Physics, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 7A, 43100 Parma, Italy
e-mail: albino@fis.unipr.it
2 INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico Padova, Vic. Osservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
e-mail: cremonese@pd.astro.it
(Received 19 April 2002 / Accepted 6 August 2002)
Abstract
After a brief historical review about the Moon sodium
exosphere and lunar impacts, the attention is focused on the lack
of enhancements of the sodium emissions by meteor showers
different from Leonids. In order to contribute to the solution of
this problem we perform an order-of-magnitude calculation of the
physical conditions of sodium atoms during meteoroid impacts. This
calculation suggests that the lack of sodium emission enhancements
during different meteor showers could be caused by the different
ionization degree of the sodium atoms which, in turn, depends on
the meteoroid impact velocity.
Key words: Meteors -- Meteoroids -- Moon -- Telescope
Offprint request: A. Carbognani, albino@fis.unipr.it
© ESO 2002