ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft has for the first time ever detected an aurora on Mars. This aurora is of a type never before seen in the Solar System. Using the European Space Agency's Mars Express, a team of French astronauts has observed nine ultraviolet light shows on Mars, providing it with enough information to make a basic map.
The aurorae on Mars were first discovered in 2004 using the SPICAM ultraviolet and infrared atmospheric spectrometer onboard Mars Express, which revealed displays of ultraviolet light associated with the residual magnetic fields generated by Mars' crustal rocks.
The observations show that the aurorae seem to be located near regions where the Martian magnetic field is the strongest, confirming earlier MARSIS detections of higher-than-expected electrons in similar regions.
On Earth, aurorae are usually confined to the polar regions and shine brightly in visible light as well as at ultraviolet wavelengths. The existence of similar aurorae is also well known on the giant planets of the Solar System and occur wherever a planet's magnetic field channels electrically charged particles blown out from the Sun in the solar wind into the planet’s atmosphere.
Aurorae are spectacular displays often seen at the highest latitudes on Earth. On our planet, as well as on the giant planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, they occur at the foot of the planetary magnetic field lines near the poles, and are produced by charged particles – electrons, protons or ions – precipitating along these lines.
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