Rocket observations of the extreme ultraviolet dayglow.
The ultraviolet dayglow in the wavelength region 750-1050 A was investigated over the altitude range 100-800 km using a thin film filter photometer. From the airglow spectrum obtained by Carruthers and Page, one of the dominant features in this wavelength range is OII 834 A. It is pointed out that the major excitation mechanism for this transition is photoionization excitation of atomic oxygen. Solution of the radiative transfer problem for this excitation process shows good agreement with the observed dayglow in the 300-800 km region. At lower altitudes additional componets are present and are interpreted as the N2, OI and possibly HI emissions observed by Carruthers and Page.