High-Resolution, Ground-Based Observations of the Lunar Exosphere During the Month of May from 2013 to 2016

We apply high resolution spectroscopy to investigate the lunar exosphere by measuring sodium and potassium spectral line profiles to determine the variations in exospheric effective temperatures and velocities. Observations were made at the National Solar Observatory McMath-Pierce Telescope. We used a dual-etalon Fabry-Perot spectrometer with a resolving power of 180,000 (1.7 km/s) to measure the line widths and radial velocities of Doppler shifted sodium D2 (5889.9509 Å) and potassium D1 (7698.9646 Å) emission lines. The instrument’s, 2 arcmin (~224 km) and 3 arcmin (~336km), Field of View (FOV) is positioned off the limb in equatorial and high latitude regions. Therefore, observations taken at 1st and 3rd quarter are taken at local noon while observations taken at full moon are at 6 am (dawn) and 6 pm (dusk) locally. We discuss data taken during the month of May/June from 2013 to 2016 for sodium and 2014 to 2016 for potassium. The deconvolved line widths indicate sodium temperatures at large phase angles (phase > 40o) are on the order of 1600 K while temperatures near full Moon are on the order of 4500 K. Line widths and temperatures are largest during full Moon; a trend that is not due to geometrical effects of looking ‘down’ the tail. A slight asymmetry between waxing phase data and waning phase data is seen in all years. At limb relative intensity data for sodium, corrected for the Sun-Moon motion, show intensities that are higher after full Moon; a result that is consistent with enhanced PSD efficiency after the Moon resides in the plasma sheet. The potassium relative intensity decreases significantly as the waxing moon approaches full moon but like sodium its intensity increases after exiting the magnetotail. November results for each year will be compared with May results to establish any orbital trends