Latest news with #EliseKnutsen
Time of India
17-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
First-Ever Auroras on Mars: Stunning pictures captured by NASA's Perseverance
Image credits: X/@konstructivizm Out of all the planets in the solar system, we have made significant progress in discovering and analysing Mars. The planet, which is 33.9 million miles from Earth, has shown potential signs of ancient life, past water activity, and unique geological discoveries such as elemental sulfur, carbonate minerals and quartz deposits. Now, a rare space weather alignment allowed NASA 's Perseverance rover to capture a glowing streak of green light dazzling above the Jezero crater on Mars. The display was captured on March 22nd, 2024, just some days after a powerful solar eruption struck Mars. It marked the first time an aurora was documented from the surface of another planet. These images confirm long-held predictions about Martian auroras and hint at a spectacle that could possibly rival that of Earth. How were Auroras on Mars captured? On March 15th, 2024, the Sun projected an X-class flare and a coronal mass ejection (CME). Travelling at a speed of millions of kilometres per hour, the plasma cloud carried a swarm of solar energetic particles (SEPs). On Earth, such solar storms create polar auroras by funnelling the charged particles into the global magnetic field. Since Mars lacks such a field, its entire atmosphere glows during such events. NASA X MAVEN Ultraviolet cameras on NASA's MAVEN orbiter had previously shown that SEPs create large, diffuse auroras high above the planet. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Perdagangkan CFD Emas dengan Broker Tepercaya IC Markets Mendaftar Undo Some models predicted that highly intense SEP storms could stimulate oxygen atoms to emit green light at 557.7 nanometres, which is the same wavelength that gives colours to many of Earth's auroras. To catch such a signal, engineers trained two rover instruments: the Mastcam-Z imager and the SuperCam spectrometer. 'This exciting discovery opens up new possibilities for auroral research and confirms that auroras could be visible to future astronauts on Mars's surface,' said Elise Knutsen, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oslo and lead author of the study. A perfectly timed moment Image credits: X/@QuibellPaul While SEP storms are common, NASA has to select the right storm that would be creating the auroras. Thus, the space weather specialists at NASA's Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office monitor solar flares and feed them into computer models at the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) to predict when an interplanetary shock will sweep past Mars. This alert is shared with missions in orbit and on the surface. 'The trick was to pick a good CME – one that would accelerate and inject many charged particles into Mars's atmosphere,' Knutsen said. Such an alert was shared on March 15 with MAVEN's space-weather lead, Christina Lee, who broadcast a Mars Space Weather Alert Notification to all active spacecraft. First-ever auroras captured on Mars Two days after the CME crashed into Mars, the Perseverance rover trained its cameras on the dark sky. SuperCam's spectrometer registered a crisp spike at 557.7 nm, exactly the wavelength of Earth's auroras, while Mastcam-Z captured faint emerald lights sweeping overhead. Since Mars, unlike Earth, does not have a global field, its lights are more planet-wide than limited to a certain area. "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, acting project scientist for the rover. The study was published in Science Advances.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Perseverance Mars rover becomes 1st spacecraft to spot auroras from the surface of another world
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. NASA's Perseverance rover just made skywatching history. The car-sized Perseverance spied auroras in Mars' skies in mid-March, becoming the first-ever spacecraft to witness such a light show from the surface of another planet. "This exciting discovery opens up new possibilities for auroral research and confirms that auroras could be visible to future astronauts on Mars' surface," Elise Knutsen, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oslo in Norway and lead author of a study about the news, said in a statement. Auroras occur when charged particles from the sun collide with molecules in planetary atmospheres. Earth's magnetic field channels most of those solar particles toward its poles, which is why auroral displays on our planet are generally limited to high latitudes — that is, except on certain occasions when particularly big clouds of solar plasma known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) hit us. Mars, however, doesn't have a global magnetic field anymore, it disappeared long ago and caused the once-wet world to dry out. Because of this, the Red Planet's auroral shows are different than those we get on Earth. The arrival of a big CME, for example, tends to set the whole Martian sky aglow. These alien auroras have been observed from Mars orbit before, but no surface craft had managed to capture the phenomenon. Knutsen and her team set out to make history. They calculated the best angle at which to point two key Perseverance instruments — its MastCam-Z camera system and SuperCam spectrometer — at the Martian sky. They also worked with researchers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland to identify Mars-bound CMEs that could spark detectable auroral displays. The Goddard scientists flagged one such outburst on March 15. That alert was noticed by space physicist Christina Lee of the University of California, Berkeley, the space weather lead for NASA's MAVEN Mars orbiter. Lee, in turn, issued a notice to other Mars mission teams, including Knutsen and her colleagues. "When we saw the strength of this one, we estimated it could trigger aurora bright enough for our instruments to detect," Knutsen said. That was indeed the case. The CME slammed into Mars' thin atmosphere a few days later, generating a green aurora that was pretty much uniform across the Red Planet's skies. (As on Earth, the green auroral glow was caused by light-emitting oxygen atoms.) MAVEN and another Mars orbiter, Europe's Mars Express, detected solar energetic particles in the atmosphere at the time, confirming that Perseverance did indeed record a Martian aurora from the planet's surface. "This was a fantastic example of cross-mission coordination," MAVEN Principal Investigator Shannon Curry, a research scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, said in the same statement. "We all worked together quickly to facilitate this observation and are thrilled to have finally gotten a sneak peek of what astronauts will be able to see there some day,' added Curry, a co-author of the new paper. Related stories: — Massive sunspot that brought widespread auroras to Earth now targets Mars — Mars orbiter notches 1st sighting of simultaneous auroras with different causes — Perseverance rover: Everything you need to know Perseverance's aurora observations, which were described in a study published Wednesday (May 14) in the journal Science Advances, have more than just gee-whiz appeal. After all, auroras result from space weather, which can have profound effects on spacecraft and people that venture beyond our planet's protective magnetic bubble. "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," Katie Stack Morgan, acting project scientist for Perseverance at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California who was not part of the study team, said in the statement. "A better understanding of auroras and the conditions around Mars that lead to their formation are especially important as we prepare to send human explorers there safely," added Stack Morgan.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
This photo is terrible, but it proves that other planets get auroras too. Mars rover snaps a first-ever photo of the aurora visible from another planet
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Mars doesn't have magnetic poles like Earth does, but that doesn't stop the red planet from experiencing the night sky phenomenon known as the aurora. The Mars rover Perseverance made history by taking the first-ever photograph of an aurora from another planet, following a March 15 solar flare. The discovery confirms what scientists have theorized for years: that if astronauts ever did land on the fourth planet from the sun, they could still see auroras caused by mass solar ejections. Martian auroras have been previously observed from orbit using ultraviolet light equipment, but the image captured in March is the first time that auroral activity has been observed from on the planet itself, and with visible light camera equipment. The photograph shows a grainy green sky – the green being the auroral activity. NASA shared the photo this week alongside a standard photo of the night sky, which lacks the green color, for comparison. The image was captured from the rover Perseverance, which is led by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Importantly, the Martian aurora shouldn't be referred to as the Northern Lights or Southern Lights. NASA says the green light in the photograph is an entirely different kind of aurora. Because Mars doesn't have magnetic poles like Earth does, the planet won't experience the same type of aurora that is caused by solar particles being drawn to the magnetic poles, where they interact with gases in the atmosphere. The aurora captured by Perseverance, NASA explains, was called a solar energetic particle or SEP aurora. This type of aurora happens when particles from a solar flare interact with the Martian atmosphere. With no magnetic fields funneling the light show to the north and south poles, this SEP aurora creates a glow across the entire night sky. While the Martian SEP auroras were previously discovered in 2014, the photograph proves that the green auroras could be observed from Mars' surface. Timing the Perseverance's camera with solar activity was a multi-team effort, led by researchers from the University of Oslo in Norway in a study in Science Advances. Elise Knutsen, a postdoctoral researcher from the university, said her team strategized the optical angle for the rover's spectrometer and camera to observe the aurora. But like on Earth, timing is essential in spotting any auroral activity. Knusten's team worked with NASA's Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office and the Community Coordinated Modeling Center for real-time analysis of solar activity. Space physicist and MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere Volatile Evolution) team member Christina Lee, of the University of California, Berkeley, spotted the solar storm, flagging the activity on the Mars Space Weather Alert Notification system. A few days after the March 15 solar activity, the rover was able to capture the image of the green aurora as the solar activity reached the planet. The presence of solar activity was confirmed by the MAVEN SEP instruments, as well as data from the European Space Agency. While Mars experiences a different type of aurora, the 557.7 nm emission measured by the Mars instruments is the same emission level that causes the green color during Earth's Northern and Southern Lights. For more Mars rover inspiration, check out this solar eclipse captured from Mars. Or, learn how to photograph the aurora (from Earth, of course!) or what astrophotography events to photograph for May.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers Stunned as Epic Mars Aurora Covers Entire Planet
Astronomers have finally captured visible auroras dazzling the skies above Mars — and they're unlike anything we see on Earth. The spectacular discovery was made using NASA's Perseverance rover. Thanks to careful planning by the researchers, the robotic explorer gazed up to the heavens just in time to catch a powerful solar storm slamming into Mars' thin atmosphere, creating a diffuse green glow that could be seen across the entire planet, dwarfing its Earth counterparts. The findings, published in a new study in the journal Science Advances, mark the first time that the Red Planet's auroras have been captured in light visible to the human eye. More than that, it's also the first time that an aurora has been seen from the surface of another planet. "This exciting discovery opens up new possibilities for auroral research and confirms that auroras could be visible to future astronauts on Mars' surface," said study lead author Elise Knutsen at the University of Oslo in Norway in a statement about the work. Auroras form when high-energy, electrically charged particles, usually from the Sun, strike a planet's magnetic field and excite the particles in the upper layers of the atmosphere. Green, the most common color, is the result of emissions from excited oxygen atoms. For years, astronomers have suspected that Mars could host green auroras. But until now, Martian auroras have only been observed in ultraviolet light from orbit, according to NASA. The fact that Mars has auroras at all is a bit of a head-scratcher. The Red Planet has little atmosphere left to speak of and longer possesses a global magnetic field, unlike Earth. The planet does have smaller regions of magnetism, however, and studying the auroras that emerge can tell astronomers a lot about the Martian atmosphere, which mysteriously vanished around 3.5 billion years ago, along with all its surface water. "Aurora is the visible manifestation of how the Sun really affects the atmosphere of planets," Knutsen told the Washington Post. "It really lets you probe in a very direct way how particles are transferred and injected into atmospheres." The curtains of light that we see on Earth are known as discrete auroras, Knutsen explained to WaPo. But Mars can host sinuous auroras, which take a winding shape that stretches across half a planet, and diffuse auroras, which cover an entire planet. Serendipitously, the astronomers got to witness a globe-spanning one. Allowing them to make the discovery, scientists at NASA's Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office forecasted that a powerful solar eruption known as a coronal mass ejection (CME) would impact Mars on March 15, 2024. After word got to Knutsen's team, they instantly knew that this was their chance. "When we saw the strength of this one," Knutsen said in a statement, "we estimated it could trigger aurora bright enough for our instruments to detect." When the CME finally came, Perseverance was ready. Just as Knutsen's team predicted, a green aurora lit up the sky, and the rover imaged it using its Mastcam-Z instrument. The picture may be pretty grainy, but this, the team assures, is just the beginning. "It opens this new avenue for doing magnetospheric, atmospherics, and space weather research on Mars," Knutsen told WaPo. More on dazzling lights: There's Something Very Unusual About Jupiter's Auroras
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mars astronauts would be able to see colorful aurora lights during solar storms, scientists prove
For the first time, scientists know what aurora light displays on Mars could look like for Martian explorers. On Earth, the Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, are created when energized particles from the Sun interact with our planet's magnetic field. While Mars is also blasted with the same space weather, the Red Planet lacks a magnetic field, creating a different phenomenon known as solar energetic particle (SEP) auroras. These were first discovered by NASA's MAVEN spacecraft more than a decade ago. SEPs happen when energized particles crash into the Martian atmosphere, causing the atmosphere to glow. However, until now, it hasn't been documented if these lights appear in the colors we see on Earth. The most common color of auroras on Earth is green, caused by oxygen atoms emitting light at a wavelength of 557.7 nanometers. According to NASA, scientists theorized that green-light auroras could also occur on the Red Planet but might be fainter than on Earth. What Is A Geomagnetic Storm? During the strong to extreme solar storms last spring and summer, University of Oslo researcher Elise Knutsen waited for the perfect conditions to try and prove this theory. First, Knutson's team figured out how NASA's Perseverance rover's SuperCam spectrometer and Mastcam-Z camera would need to be angled to capture an SEP aurora in visible light. Then they just had to figure out the timing for when a coronal mass ejection from the Sun might trigger such a display. They needed a strong CME that would send a lot of charged particles into the Martian atmosphere. Similar to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), which issues forecasts for space weather impacts on Earth, NASA has dedicated teams at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland tracking solar activity for possible impacts on NASA missions operating in space. See The Impacts An Epic Solar Storm Had On The Red Planet On May 15, 2024, the Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office sent out an alert for a coronal mass ejection that could produce a solar storm on Mars. A few days later, the CME arrived at Mars, creating the auroras seen in the photos from Perseverance above. According to the research team, the lights were exactly at an emission wavelength of 557.7 nm, producing green aurora. "This exciting discovery opens up new possibilities for auroral research and confirms that auroras could be visible to future astronauts on Mars' surface," Knutsen said in a news release. Data from MAVEN and the European Space Agency's Mars Express mission also corroborated the SEP seen by the rover. The space agency said this multi-mission collaboration is a new way to study space weather on Mars. NASA said it's likely that if astronauts had been on the surface of Mars near the rover, they would have been able to see the glowing green article source: Mars astronauts would be able to see colorful aurora lights during solar storms, scientists prove
