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[48P.07] Molecular Band Imaging of the Venus Night Side

N. J. Chanover (New Mexico State U.), J. J. Hillman, D. A. Glenar (NASA/GSFC)

We present preliminary modeling results of Venus night side imaging data in the near-infrared. The images were taken on 16 and 17 December 1997 using the Apache Point Observatory 3.5 meter telescope in Sunspot, NM. We used a Goddard-built acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) camera, which operates from 1.6--3.2 \mum and has a spectral resolution \lambda/\Delta\lambda = 422 at 2.3 \mum. We constructed photometrically calibrated image cubes of the Venus night side in two spectral windows. The cubes contain 30 images in the 2.3 \mum window, and 12 images in the narrower 1.7 \mum window. We demonstrate this imaging technique as a powerful tool applicable to many types of observations of planetary atmospheres and/or surfaces. The image cubes of our Venus data consist of images taken inside and outside narrow molecular absorption bands corresponding to CO, SO₂, H₂O, HF, and OCS. We interpret reflectivity variations of the Venus night side in the context of variations in the lower cloud deck opacity and spatial variations of the above molecular constituents.