Historic milestone: Perseverance rover captures Mars aurora
The Perseverance rover captured the first visible aurora on Mars, marking a historic moment in space exploration.
The Perseverance rover, operating on the surface of Mars, recorded the first-ever image of an aurora on the planet. This discovery, as reported by NASA's research centre, opens up new possibilities for studying auroral phenomena on the Red Planet. “This exciting discovery opens up new possibilities for auroral research and confirms that auroras could be visible to future astronauts on Mars’ surface,” stated Elise Knutsen from the University of Oslo in a Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL NASA release.
How was the aurora discovered on Mars?
On 15th March, 2024, the Sun emitted a solar flare and coronal mass ejection, which led to the aurora's formation on Mars. Due to the appropriate setting of cameras and the spectrometer, the Perseverance rover was able to capture this phenomenon in visible light. The image shows a comparison of the night sky with the Martian moon Deimos, without the aurora. “The trick was to pick a good CME, one that would accelerate and inject many charged particles into Mars’ atmosphere,” explained Knutsen.
The aurora appeared as a "diffuse green haze, uniform in all directions" at a wavelength of 557.7 nanometres, which is the same emission line that creates the green aurora on Earth. Perseverance used its Mastcam-Z camera and the SuperCam spectrometer to document this phenomenon, even though these instruments were not specifically designed for night photography.
What is the significance of this discovery for future missions?
The discovery of a visible aurora on Mars is immensely significant for future crewed missions. “Perseverance’s observations of the visible-light aurora confirm a new way to study these phenomena that’s complementary to what we can observe with our Mars orbiters,” said Katie Stack Morgan from NASA. Understanding the conditions leading to aurora formation is crucial for safely sending humans to Mars.
This discovery resulted from the collaboration of multiple scientific teams who quickly responded to alerts of upcoming solar storms. The MAVEN probe in Mars’ orbit confirmed the presence of energetic solar particles during observations, and additional confirmation came from the Mars Express mission by the European Space Agency.
Although the aurora seen on Mars is relatively faint compared to the spectacular displays on Earth, this discovery suggests that future astronauts might witness these ethereal green glows with the naked eye under optimal observational conditions on the Red Planet.
