NASAPerseverance rover captured aurora In the night sky, the first time from the ground of Mars.
Scientists have known it for twenty years Mars“The sky also has aurora, but the curtains of these undulating light are detected only in UV light – until now, light that is invisible to the naked eye. All previous Martian aurora were observed from orbit space.
The result is a grainy portrait that shows a further distance in this story, reminiscing the snow one might remember when the signal was lost on an old TV. But that represents a huge achievement, says Elise Wright Knutsen, first author of the study at the University of Oslo in Norway. one Papers on unprecedented observations Published in journals Science Advances May 14.
“This photo was taken with an instrument that is not necessarily optimized for nighttime images, so it’s not like the spectacular aurora images we have from Earth,” Nutson told Mashable. “But hopefully people will appreciate the soft green sky, regardless of the pixelated image.”
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The actual images taken by Perseverance are not for night viewing, and the instrument is not optimized, and are not as charming as the artist’s description, but detection is a huge achievement.
Credit: Alex McDougal Page Illustration
When the sun is Solar Stormcharged particles propagate along the planet’s invisible magnetic field lines. When these particles hit the gas in the atmosphere, they heat up and glow. Side effects are colorful monitors aurora.
On Earth, colors vary by the type of atmospheric gas and its height. Oxygen is red or blue, while nitrogen can produce green, blue or pink. Recent strong solar storm conditions – the by-product of the sun is Maximum solar energy – Causes aurora around the Arctic (called the Northern Lights), spreading, allowing people living further south to see them.
The magnetic field of Mars is different from that of the Earth, so the aurora is very exotic. They are not bound to the polar regions of the earth. Instead, the red planet’s aurora can be found in cannabis in one place, and there are at least four varieties: locally discreet aurora, globally diffuse aurora, side proton aurora facing the sun, and A large insect-shaped aurora Extend to the night surface of the earth. Some Auroras on the ground sprout, thought to have formed around what remains of the ancient magnetic field in the Earth’s crust.
Mixable light speed
Perseverance is Explore the Jezero CraterRob Lillis of UC Berkeley, said a river was once empty into the delta and found it on March 18, 2024. The sun exploded into the torrent expected to reach Mars. Mashable interview in 2024.
NASA’s Perseverance Rovers took an image of an aurora from the surface of Mars on March 18, 2024. The picture on the right is a comparison of the sky without aurora.
Credits: Knutsen et al. /sci. ADV. 11 / EADS1563 (2025)
But given that there are so many variables, including timing and weather, no one can be sure what the mobile station will see: getting one of the night sky displays is like catching lightning in a bottle.
“We actually told the rover team to point upward to their camera to see if they could see an aurora,” he said.
Perseverance uses a special camera called the MastCam-Z, and a laser tool (called SuperCam) can observe a faint green haze. Despite the dim light, detections show that under better viewing conditions, astronauts can one day see their own eyes seeing such lights.
In fact, this is a crucial reason why scientists are reluctant to study these alien aurora. For the astronauts Landing on Mars And explore for a day, they need to propagate and communicate systems through the upper atmosphere of the Earth. The more accurate the scientist model is the model of the ionosphere of Mars, the layer of charged particles around the Earth, the better these technologies work.
The dual-orbiter built for the escape mission will attempt to capture the first global image of the Martian aurora in visible light.
Credits: Rocket Lab
Scientists are planning more ways to capture Martian aurora. NASA-funded robotic missions, called mischiefwill seek to reach the bottom of how solar radiation eliminates the ragged Martian atmosphere. The mission will involve Two tracks Lead researcher Lillis said it was built by Rocket Lab. Although The track hope of the United Arab Emirates Global images have been obtained on UV light, but the lucky probe will take the first global snapshot of the Martian aurora in visible light.
Knutsen said that after several failed attempts, the discovery of the mobile station last year was a gift, and he personally longed to explore the space. She even applied for the European Space Agency’s astronaut program a few years ago.
“I’ll go there to see it with my left foot, but I hope one day I can retire under the soft glowing green Mars sky.”
