We have reanalyzed the 190- to 250-nm nightglow spectrum of Venus recorded by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter. This spectrum is known to consist primarily of v'=0 features of the NO Δ- and &ggr;-bands. However, the summed spectra, taken over many orbits, have weak and previously unidentified bands in the same spectral region, which we interpret as originating from higher vibrational levels of NO(A2&Sgr;+), resulting from collisional relaxation of NO(C2&Pgr;)v=0. The intensity of the airglow is quite variable, with the average number of photon counts in a spectral scan being 3, while the maximum counts observed is 65. We divided the scans into a high-count group and a low-count group. The resulting partial-sum spectra and the wide intensity variations suggest that at least two sources of excitation are operating. The low-count spectrum looks similar to an N+O afterglow spectrum taken at relatively high pressure, containing a variety of relaxed NO states, and thus appears to have been generated at low altitude. The high-count spectrum is unrelaxed, and resembles a photoexcitation spectrum of the C2&Pgr;(v=0) state, and thus would reflect N+O recombination at higher altitudes. Of particular interest is a set of three consecutive intense spectra taken on the same orbit, which suggests the presence of a long (1000 km), straight, and narrow (~5 km) track of secondary NO excitation, possibly caused by a meteor. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1993