Martian auroras offer clues to how the red planet lost its water

Aurorae are a light spectacle visible here on Earth. They & rsquo; re mesmerizing and vivid, but most of they all & rsquo;re mysterious.

A new study has found that this same phenomenon also happens on Mars. In study presented last week at the American Geophysical Union’s annual Fall meeting, scientists revealed that the most typical type of Martian aurorae is called the proton aurora. 

Just like the auroras we see here on Earth, proton aurorae are formed when the solar wind–a flow of charged particles emanating from the Sun–interacts with the atmosphere. That interaction manifests itself as a mesmerizing swirl of coloured lights in the night sky. 

On Mars, however, the auroras arise throughout the day and onlookers would require exclusive ultraviolet glasses to see them. This &rsquo re imperceptible to the naked eye, but can be spotted with UV instruments.  

The Northern Lights, a Sort of aurora seen here on Earth as seen from Iceland. Credit: Richard Angle/Teslarati
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

All these auroras aren’t only a Martian tourist appeal, they have a scientific value. We can understand Mars is losing water and the world ’s climate is changing.

Proton auroras were first discovered in 2016 by NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft. MAVEN is currently exploring the Red Planet dropped its atmosphere and waterchanging its climate out of one which may have supported lifestyle.

The aurora that is observed can help researchers track since the auroras are related to water loss the quantity of water lost.

“In this fresh study utilizing MAVEN/IUVS information from multiple Mars years, the research team has found that periods of increased atmospheric escape correspond to gains in proton aurora incidence and endurance,” Andréa Hughes of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida stated in a news release.

Auroras on the two planets begin with exactly the same source: the wind. On Earth, they appear when the wind slams to our world ’s field. High-energy collisions happen as the charged solar particles interact with particles of atmospheric gas. Each form of particle creates a different light in the sky. 

Martian auroras begin in the exact same style, charged particles from the solar wind chill with a cloud of hydrogen which encircles the red planet. While this occurs, protons in the solar wind become neutral after yanking electrons from the electrons. They then collide with molecules in the Martian atmosphere, producing an ultraviolet glow.

Images of Mars proton aurora. Credits: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University/LASP, U. of Colorado

Because the hydrogen cloud surrounding the planet is created in part by water being lost to space, this might give scientists a means to assess the amount of water lost as time passes. 

When the MAVEN team observed the proton aurora, they believed they were seeing an unusual phenomenon. “At first, we thought that these events were fairly infrequent because we weren’t looking at the right times and places,” Mike Chaffin, a researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) mentioned in an announcement . 

Following Chaffin’s crew took a closer look, they found that the proton auroras happen often in the summer. This is due to seasonal variation in the hydrogen peroxide which surrounds Mars. The team noted that through the Martian summer up just right to create auroras that were near-constant. 

But that’s not all. The researchers also found that as temperatures grow during the summer, increasing dust clouds would carry water vapor out from Earth ’so surface. This water vapor is then broken down to its elements: hydrogen and oxygen. As more hydrogen escapes to space, it enriches the hydrogen peroxide enveloping Mars and ultimately leads to more ordinary (and brighter) proton auroras. 

This cartoon demonstrates how proton auroras at Mars form. Credits: NASA/MAVEN/Goddard Space Flight Center/Dan Gallagher

“Observations of proton auroras at Mars provides a special view of hydrogen and, thus, water loss from the planet,” physicist Edwin Mierkiewicz of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida stated in a declaration .

“Through this study, we can obtain a deeper comprehension of the Sun’s interactions with the upper atmosphere of Mars and also with similar figures in our Solar System, or in a different solar system, which encompasses a global magnetic field. ”

So, if we ever do get it to Mars, those first people are likely to witness some truly out-of-this-world sights–as long as they packed their ultraviolet goggles.

The article Martian auroras offer clues to the way the red planet dropped its own water appeared first on TESLARATI.

Article Source and Credit teslarati.com https://www.teslarati.com/mars-history-lost-water-auroras/ Buy Tickets for every event – Sports, Concerts, Festivals and more buytickets.com