Observations of 63 μm atomic oxygen emission in the earth's atmosphere from balloon altitudes: Astronomical implications

Measurements of 3P1 → 3P2 63 μm atomic oxygen (OI) emission in the earth's atmosphere obtained with a balloon-borne telescope and high-resolution Fourier transform spectrometer are presented. Three results emerge from analysis of this data: (i) the frequency of the OI 3P1 → 3P2 transition was determined to be 158.2693 ± 0.003 cm−1; (ii) the integrated line intensity of the atmospheric OI emission was determined to be 2.4 ± 0.5 · 10−5 W m−2 sr−1; and (iii) the integrated line intensity of the atmospheric OI emission was found to be constant over a range of zenith angles corresponding to air-mass values between 1.27 and > 20. The implications of these results on astronomical observations of OI emission are discussed.