Trajectory retrieval and component investigations of the southern polar stratosphere based on high-resolution spectroscopy of the totally eclipsed moon surface

Abstract

In this paper we present the high-resolution spectral observations of the fragment of lunar surface during the total lunar eclipse of December 10, 2011. The observations were carried out with the fiber-fed echelle spectrograph at the 1.2-m telescope in Kourovka Astronomical observatory (Ural mountains, central Russia). The observed radiation is transmitted by tangent trajectory through the southern polar stratosphere before the reflection from the Moon and the spectra contain a number of absorption bands of atmospheric gases (O2, O3, O4, NO2, H2O). High-resolution analysis of three O2 bands and O4 absorption effects is used to trace the effective trajectory of solar emission through the stratosphere and to detect the contribution of scattered light. Bands of other gases allow us to measure their abundances along the trajectory. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.