Ultraviolet aurorae and dayglow in the upper atmospheres of terrestrial planets

Since its discovery in 2005 with the SPICAM spectrograph on board Mars Express, the Mars aurora has been further investigated. It is caused by sporadic soft electron precipitation whose signature is clearly observed in the FUV nightglow spectrum. The characteristics of the auroral electrons have been documented with parallel observations. Dayglow UV spectra have been collected with SPICAM over several seasons. The dependence of the intensity and peak altitude of the CO Cameron bands and CO2 + doublet emissions on latitude, local time and solar activity level have been investigated and compared with the results of a FUV Mars dayglow model. Far and Extreme ultraviolet spectra have been collected with the UVIS instrument during the flyby of Venus by Cassini, in a period a high solar activity. Their analysis shows the presence of OI, OII, NI, CI, CO and CO2 + emissions, some of them not previously identified in the Venus spectrum. The intensities will be compared with those observed with the HUT spectrograph during a period of low solar activity. The excitation processes of the observed features will be discussed. Scans of the intensity variation of several EUV bright emissions such as OII 83.4 nm, OI 98.9 nm and NI 120.0 nm multiplets across the sunlit disc will be compared with the calculations of a Venus dayglow model, including multiple scattering of optically thick transitions.