Venus OH nightglow distribution based on VIRTIS limb observations from Venus Express

The full set of VIRTIS‐M limb observations of the OH Venus nightglow has been analyzed to determine its characteristics. Based on 3328 limb profiles, we find that the mean peak intensity along the line of sight of the OH(deltaV = 1 sequence) is 0.35 MR and is located at 96.4 ± 5 km. The emission is highly variable and no dependence of the airglow layer altitude versus the
antisolar angle is observed. The peak brightness appears to decrease away from the antisolar point even if the variability at a given location is very strong. Some correlation between the intensity of the OH and the O2(a1Delta) emissions is also observed, resumably because atomic oxygen is a common precursor to the formation of O2(a1Delta) and O3, whose reaction with H produces excited OH. Comparing our results with predictions from a photochemical model, a constant H flux does not match the simultaneous OH and O2 airglow observations.