Latest Science Discovery
Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) probe, Hope, has captured stunning images of Mars’ enigmatic auroras that will provide new insights into the interactions between the Red Planet’s atmosphere, its magnetic fields and the solar wind. Auroras are dancing waves of light like the northern lights seen on Earth which have captivated people for millennia. They appear on a planet when solar activity disturbs its atmosphere. The latest observations by EMM include a never-before-seen phenomenon, dubbed the ‘sinuous discrete aurora’ — a huge worm-like aurora that extends halfway around the Red Planet.
When we first imaged Mars’ discrete aurora shortly after the Hope probe’s arrival at Mars in 2021, we knew we had unveiled new potential to make observations never before possible on this scale, and we took the decision to increase our focus on these auroras,” said EMM Science Lead, Hessa Al Matroushi. “We can obtain nearly whole-disk, synoptic snapshots of the atmosphere to investigate atmospheric phenomena and interactions. It means we are seeing discrete auroral effects on a massive scale and in ways we never anticipated,” Matroushi said in a statement.
What is the new aurora?
The sinuous discrete aurora is made up of long worm-like streaks of energised electron emissions in the upper atmosphere. These extend many thousands of kilometres, stretching from the day side into the night side of Mars. The aurora was imaged when the planet was experiencing the effects of a solar storm, which caused a more turbulent stream of solar wind electrons than usual. This allowed Hope to capture the brightest and most extensive aurora it has observed so far.
Dr Rob Lillis, a Hope mission team member at the University of California, Berkeley, described the discovery. “The sinuous discrete aurora was a shocking discovery that in many ways has us scratching our heads and going back to the drawing board,” he said.We have ideas but no solid explanation for why we are observing intense aurora of this shape and at planetary scales.We now have the opportunity to re-examine prior observations of Mars by missions such as Maven and Mars Express to search for signatures that could flesh out Hope’s new observations and perhaps help us try and unpick quite what is happening here.”The spacecraft arrived at Mars’ orbit on February 9, 2021 to study the planet’s dynamic weather conditions and atmosphere.Since then, thousands of science images have been released, as well as data.
Auroras tell us about Mars’ atmosphere
One of Hope’s main objectives has always been to gather data on Mars’ atmosphere. And the images of the auroras on Mars are shedding new light on the atmosphere’s interactions with the planet’s magnetic fields and solar wind.The researchers say they want to provide data that will help the international science community create a global weather map for Mars, understand the planet’s weather cycles and track the movement of hydrogen and oxygen between the different layers of the atmosphere.Al Matroushi said they can scan almost the entire globe, capturing “synoptic snapshots” — images that provide a full overview of the planet — which will enable the researchers to investigate those atmospheric phenomena.“We are seeing discrete auroral effects on a massive scale and in ways we never anticipated,” said the scientist.
Other auroras on Mars
Scientists have previously detected three types of auroras on Mars.
First, there are diffuse auroras, which are produced by intense solar storms.
Second, there are the discrete auroras, which Hope has been investigating since the start of its mission. Discrete auroras are produced by magnetized minerals embedded in the planet’s crust.
Diffuse and discreet auroras tend to be observed on Mars’ nightside. That is the side of a planet that faces away from its star, and in Mars’ case, that is Earth’s sun.
Then there are proton auroras, which are observed on Mars’ dayside (the side facing the sun).
Proton auroras appear to be a product of interactions between Mars’ solar wind and hydrogen in the planet’s exosphere — the outermost layer of a planet’s atmosphere.
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