{"id":245822,"date":"2025-05-18T17:21:07","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T17:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/see-the-first-visible-auroras-captured-on-mars-glowing-a-hazy-green-above-the-planet\/"},"modified":"2025-05-18T17:21:07","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T17:21:07","slug":"see-the-first-visible-auroras-captured-on-mars-glowing-a-hazy-green-above-the-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=245822","title":{"rendered":"See the First Visible Auroras Captured on Mars, Glowing a Hazy Green Above the Planet"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Scientists directed NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover to take an image of the Martian sky after a solar storm in hopes that an aurora would show up<\/h2>\n
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Lillian Ali<\/a><\/p>\n

– Staff Contributor<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\"Aurora
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The first image in visible light of green auroras on Mars (left), compared to the night sky of Mars without auroras.
\n NASA \/ JPL-Caltech \/ ASU \/ MSSS \/ SSI<\/span>
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On March 18, 2024, NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover<\/a>, which usually examines rocks on Mars\u2019 surface, tilted its camera upward. The planet\u2019s entire sky glowed a soft green, and the rover snapped an image of the moment\u2014capturing the first visually observed aurora on Mars.<\/p>\n

The photograph<\/a> is the result of several years of planning, waiting and retrying to grab this shot. Researchers led by Elise Wright Knutsen<\/a>, an atmospheric physicist at the University of Oslo, waited for the right conditions and commanded Perseverance to look up at exactly the right time. They reported their feat in a study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took three unsuccessful attempts before we got it right, but when we did, it appeared exactly as we imagined it; as a diffuse green haze, uniform in all directions,\u201d Knutsen tells Gizmodo<\/a><\/em>\u2019s Passant Rabie.<\/p>\n

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In March 2024, solar storms led to stunning auroras across the solar system, including at Mars, where the @NASAPersevere<\/a> rover made history by detecting them for the first time from the surface of another planet. https:\/\/t.co\/vP3fl7LIQe<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/XTV2pVue0v<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NASA Mars (@NASAMars) May 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Auroras<\/a> can occur following a solar storm<\/a>, when the sun suddenly blasts charged particles, energy and magnetic fields into the solar system. These particles can collide with gases in a planet\u2019s atmosphere, energizing them and causing their atoms to emit light in different colors.<\/p>\n

On Earth, the charged particles from the sun are guided to the poles by the magnetic field, leading to the northern and southern lights. Mars<\/a> does not have a global magnetic field, \u201cso the charged particles bombarded all of Mars at the same time, which leads to this planet-wide aurora,\u201d Knutsen tells Reuters<\/a>\u2019 Will Dunham.<\/p>\n

The Martian atmosphere is much thinner than Earth\u2019s, and it doesn\u2019t have as many gas atoms that could light up in an aurora. But Mars has atomic oxygen, and oxygen on Earth causes a green glow. So, astronomers thought its sky would appear green after a solar storm, although the hue would be fainter and harder to capture than auroras on Earth. Historically, Mars\u2019 auroras have only been observed by orbiting spacecraft in ultraviolet light, which is not visible to the naked eye.<\/p>\n

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An aurora seen from Abisko, Sweden, glows green due to emissions from atmospheric oxygen.<\/p>\n

Pavel.shyshkouski via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Perseverance\u2019s photo surprised some scientists, who had anticipated an image of an aurora to come from a spacecraft instead. \u201cI didn\u2019t really expect it to be seen by one of the rovers,\u201d planetary astronomer James O\u2019Donoghue<\/a> of the University of Reading in England, who was not involved in the study, tells the New York Times<\/em><\/a>\u2019 <\/em>Robin George Andrews.<\/p>\n

Perseverance\u2019s mission is to sample rocks that may contain evidence of ancient microbial life, like \u201cCheyava Falls,\u201d a rock discovered last year<\/a> that scientists say bears a potential biosignature. To observe an aurora, researchers applied the rover\u2019s rock-studying instruments<\/a> to the sky. One of its cameras, Mastcam-Z, could spot green lights. An instrument called SuperCam would chemically analyze whatever was emitting that green light, potentially identifying an aurora.<\/p>\n

To get their photo, researchers had to accurately forecast the aurora by observing the sun, studying the Martian atmosphere and perfectly timing Perseverance\u2019s movements. After several months, during a period of solar hyperactivity<\/a>, Knutsen\u2019s team found exactly the right moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so satisfying,\u201d Knutsen tells the New York Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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NASA’s Perseverance rover took this “selfie” on July 23, 2024, with a rock nicknamed “Cheyava Falls.”<\/p>\n

NASA \/ JPL-Caltech \/ MSSS<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Perseverance\u2019s instruments determined the aurora emitted light with a wavelength of 557.7 nanometers\u2014a green glow that\u2019s visible to the human eye\u2014which told astronomers the source was oxygen. Data from NASA\u2019s orbiting MAVEN<\/a> mission confirmed the light came from an aurora caused by solar energetic particles.<\/p>\n

Capturing an aurora on Mars opens new methods of studying the planet\u2019s atmosphere and weather. It also shows how scientists can continue to track solar activity, which is especially relevant as a solar flare<\/a> caused radio blackouts internationally this week.<\/p>\n

For now, though, Knutsen\u2019s team gets to celebrate capturing the first visible Martian aurora. She tells the New York Times <\/em>about being one of the first people to see \u201ca black horizon and a softly glowing green sky\u201d on Mars, saying, \u201cI cried a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

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