A Cold-Pole Enhancement in Mercury's Sodium Exosphere

The Ultraviolet and Visible Spectrometer (UVVS) component of the Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS) on the MESSENGER spacecraft characterized the local-time distribution of the sodium exosphere over the course of its orbital mission. The observations show that the sodium exosphere is enhanced above Mercury's cold-pole longitudes. Based on previously published sodium exosphere models we infer that these regions act as nightside surface reservoirs, temporary sinks to the exosphere that collect sodium atoms transported anti-sunward. The reservoirs are revealed as exospheric enhancements when they are exposed to sunlight. As in the models the reservoir is depleted as the cold poles rotate from dawn to dusk, but unlike the models the depletion is only partial. The persistence of the reservoir means that it could, over the course of geologically long periods of time, contribute to an increase in the bulk concentration of sodium near the cold-pole longitudes.