An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
English-French-Persian

A metallic chemical element; symbol Na (L. natrium]. Atomic number 11; atomic weight 22.98977; melting point 97.81°C; boiling point 892.9°C; specific gravity 0.971 at 20°C. It was discovered in 1807 by the English chemist Humphry Davy from electrolysis of caustic soda (NaOH).

Sodium, from soda (NaOH).

The → sodium tail of the Moon as it appears in the sky opposite the Sun. The SMS undergoes changes in shape and brightness. It is brighter when the → new moon occurs at → perigee, when the new moon is north of the → ecliptic, and approximately five hours after the new moon.

→ sodium; → Moon; → spot.

1) A kind of → cometary tail appearing in some → comets, such as → Hale-Bopp. Sodium tails arise from the very strong → fluorescence of their sodium atom → D lines in the visible. They are rapidly accelerated to high velocities by the Sun, forming a very straight tail distinct from the → ion tail. The release mechanism of sodium from comets is still a matter of debate. Also called → neutral tail.
2) → sodium tail of the Moon.
3) A comet-like tail of Mercury similar to that of the Moon, but much longer, stretching up to 3.5 million km.

→ sodium; → tail.

A comet-like tail of the Moon comprised of → sodium (Na) atoms and invisible to the naked eye. The lunar surface is constantly bombarded by the → solar wind, → photons, and → meteoroids, which can liberate Na atoms from the → regolith. These atoms are subsequently accelerated by solar → radiation pressure to form a long comet-like tail opposite the Sun. Near → new moon, this diffuse cloud of Na atoms encounters the Earth's gravity and is "pinched" into a beam of enhanced density. This beam appears as the ~3° diameter Sodium Moon Spot (SMS) seen in the sky opposite the Sun. The spot is about five times the diameter of the → full moon, and is 50 times fainter than can be seen with the unaided eye. The spot is reflected light from millions of Na atoms that two days earlier were on the surface of the Moon. This spot is visible to sensitive cameras equipped with filters tuned to the orange light emitted by Na atoms near 589.3 nm (Baumgardner et al., 2021 Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets DOI: 10.1029/2020je006671).

→ sodium; → tail; → Moon.