19-07-2021 | 16:12 PM
Discrete Auroras on Mars
• The UAE’s Hope spacecraft, sent by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to orbit Mars, has captured images of discrete auroras on Mars.
• Unlike auroras on Earth, which are seen only near the north and south poles, discrete auroras on Mars are seen all around the planet at night time.
Auroras on Earth:
• Auroras are caused when solar wind, charged particles ejected from the Sun’s surface, enter the Earth’s atmosphere.
• These particles are harmful and the Earth’s geomagnetic field acts as a shield to protect humans from these harmful solar winds.
• However, at the north and south poles, some of these solar wind particles are able to continuously stream down and interact with different gases in the atmosphere to cause a display of light in the night sky.
• This display, known as an aurora, is seen from the Earth’s high latitude regions (called the auroral oval) and is active all year round.
• On the north pole of Earth, these lights are called Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights, and are seen from the US (Alaska), Canada, Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
• On the south pole, they are called Aurora Australis or Southern Lights and are visible from high latitudes in Antarctica, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia.
Significance:
• Studying Martian auroras is important for scientists, for it can offer clues as to why the Red Planet lost its magnetic field and thick atmosphere– among the essential requirements for sustaining life.
