The Perseverance rover is exploring Mars
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA’s Perseverance rover has spotted the first visible light aurora on Mars, suggesting that future astronauts visiting the Red Planet could be in for a light show.
Astronomers have observed aurorae, the light produced when particles or radiation hits a planet’s atmosphere, on Mars since 2005, but all of these displays have only been detected in the form of ultraviolet light, which is invisible to the naked human eye. These come from oxygen in the atmosphere being energised by charged particles coming from the sun. The oxygen then loses this extra…
Article amended on 13 September 2024
We have clarified the visibility of the aurora
Article amended on 16 September 2024
We have corrected the source of charge particles from the sun and the role of oxygen in producing an ultraviolet aurora
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