NASA has announced that the type of Martian Aurora, first identified by NASA´s MAVEN spacecraft in 2016, is the most common form of aurora occurring on Mars, the agency said.
From Earth, auroras are commonly seen as colorful displays of light in the night sky near the polar regions, where they are also known as the northern and southern lights. However, the proton aurora on Mars happens during the day and gives off ultraviolet light, so it is invisible to the human eye but detectable to the Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument on the MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft.
MAVEN´s mission is to investigate how the Red Planet lost much of its atmosphere and water, transforming its climate from one that might have supported life to one that is cold, dry, and inhospitable. Since the proton aurora is generated indirectly by hydrogen derived from Martian water that´s in the process of being lost to space, this aurora could be used to help track ongoing Martian water loss.
This research was funded by the MAVEN mission. MAVEN´s principal investigator is based at the University of Colorado´s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colorado, and NASA Goddard manages the MAVEN project. NASA is exploring our Solar System and beyond, uncovering worlds, stars, and cosmic mysteries near and far with our powerful fleet of space and ground-based missions.
