Auroras are natural light displays that form dynamic patterns of brilliant lights in the Earth’s sky as a result of disturbances in the magnetosphere caused by the solar wind — the Sun’s jet of charged particles. The magnetosphere is a region of space governed by the magnetic field of a planet. Except for Mercury, almost every planet in our solar system has auroras. On Mars, however, things start to get interesting. Unlike Earth, Mars lacks a global magnetic field, which is essential for the formation of auroras. Mars has localized, induced magnetism. According to new research, Mars’ discrete (or structured) ultraviolet auroras are produced by these localised magnetic fields interacting with the solar wind in novel ways.
Scientists at the University of Iowa in the United States have discovered that discrete auroras form on Mars, just as they do on Earth. But they had no idea how they formed, especially since there was no global magnetic field. They now report that discrete auroras on Mars are governed by the localised interaction between the solar wind and magnetic fields generated by the Red Planet’s crust – in contrast to Earth, where auroras appear when solar wind particles collide with the magnetosphere.
“We have the first detailed study looking at how solar wind conditions affect auroras on Mars,” said University of Iowa physicist and astronomer Zachary Girazian.
“This is an extremely fruitful and exciting time to be researching auroras on Mars.” The MAVEN database of discrete aurora observations is the first of its kind, allowing us to understand basic aurora features for the first time,” Girazian added.
After more than 200 observations of discrete auroras on Mars by the NASA-led Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, the researchers published their findings in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics.
Auroras form on all other planets as a result of the complex interaction between their magnetic fields and solar winds, according to the study. However, Mars’ global magnetic field has long since decayed, leaving only patches of magnetism preserved in the crust.
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