NASA's MAVEN captured amazing aurorae on Mars caused by a solar storm | Image: Instagram: NASA
NASA has once again surprised space lovers by showing them a mesmerizing glimpse of the universe. This time, the space agency delighted its Instagram followers with an animated GIF showing the aurora on the night side of Mars.
This rare phenomenon, captured by NASA's Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph instrument on the MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) orbiter, is a sight to behold.
In its recent post, NASA explained:
“The purple color in this video represents aurora on the night side of Mars, as detected by the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph instrument on NASA's MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) orbiter. The brighter the purple color, the more pronounced the presence of an aurora. This view, taken as waves of energetic particles from a solar storm reach Mars, pauses at the end, when the most energetic wave of particles arrives and overwhelms the instrument with noise,” NASA wrote in the caption of the post.
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These amazing purple lights were seen on Mars between May 14 and May 20 this year. NASA explains that auroras on Mars occur differently from Earth:
“Our home planet is protected from charged particles by a strong magnetic field, which is normally confined to areas near the polar regions. (Solar maximum is the reason behind the recent polar fields seen south of Alabama.) Mars lost its internally generated magnetic field in the ancient past, so there is no protection from the onslaught of energetic particles. When charged particles hit the Martian atmosphere, polar fields are formed that engulf the entire planet,” the space agency explained.
Users' reactions to the post:
“Wow! This is incredibly beautiful.”
“Wow that's amazing.”
“This is incredible! Is there any plan by NASA to photograph the aurora from the surface? Or will that have to wait for a future manned mission?”
“But the aurora is mostly green, right? It just looks different.”
This fascinating display is the result of waves of energetic particles from a solar storm interacting with the Martian atmosphere. The animated GIF shows the aurora intensifying, with the brightest purple colors indicating the highest concentration of aurora. The sequence ends dramatically when the most energetic particles arrive, filling the instrument with noise.