Abstract
THE auroral green line, which is now thought to be an arc line of oxygen, has been excited with considerable intensity in active nitrogen that was produced by a condensed discharge in a mixture of nitrogen and about 4 per cent, oxygen. Under the most favourable conditions for its excitation, the line was as intense as the afterglow band at 5442 A. Eastman astronomical plates were used because of their great sensitivity in the green. The spectrum was photographed on a small Hilger visible spectrograph. Because of the small dispersion of the instrument, the wave-length of the line could be measured only to within 0.1 A. Using helium standards the wave-length was found to be 5577.5 A. The measurements of Babcock and of others give this wave-length as 5577.35 A. It was shown definitely that with decreasing amounts of oxygen the line gradually disappeared. This and the fact that the wave-lengths agree fairly well, give sufficient proof that the line in question is the auroral green line.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
KAPLAN, J. Excitation of the Auroral Green Line in Active Nitrogen. Nature 121, 711 (1928). https://doi.org/10.1038/121711b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/121711b0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.