Photographic Parallax Heights of Infrared Airflow Structures

Abstract

WE recently presented infrared photographs of the night sky which show moving, changing structures¹ and argued that these were due to OH airglow emission. A stringent test of the validity of our assertion is the determination of the height of discrete emission patches using parallax photographs from two widely separated sites. Observations were made during the night of May 2–3, 1973, from Capilla Peak Observatory (elevation 2,855 m) and from a station 20 km west of Albuquerque (1,760 m). The sites are separated by 64.8 km, and the Albuquerque site is located 42.3° west of north from Capilla Peak. Consecutive exposures of 5 min centred about 15° east of north were taken simultaneously at each site with f/1.2 cameras from the end of twilight till the beginning of dawn.