A NASA spacecraft circling Mars has detected a mysterious dust cloud and a vibrant aurora, both unexpected phenomena on Earth's neighboring planet, researchers said Wednesday.
NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) detected the aurora—known on Earth as the Northern lights—in December, so they were nicknamed "Christmas Lights," according to a statement issued by NASA on the same day as the findings were presented at a Texas astronomy conference.
"For five days just before December 25, MAVEN saw a bright ultraviolet auroral glow spanning Mars' northern hemisphere," it said.
Aurora are seen when geomagnetic storms unleashed by eruptions on the Sun cause energetic particles like electrons to crash into the atmosphere, causing the gas to glow.
"What's especially surprising about the aurora we saw is how deep in the atmosphere it occurs—much deeper than at Earth or elsewhere on Mars," said Arnaud Stiepen, Imaging Ultraviolet Spectograph team member at the University of Colorado.
"The electrons producing it must be really energetic."
Experts believe the source of the energetic particles for the Mars aurora is the Sun, because MAVEN's Solar Energetic Particle instrument "detected a huge surge in energetic electrons at the onset of the aurora," NASA said.
Since Mars lost its protective magnetic field billions of years ago, the solar particles can directly strike the atmosphere and penetrate deeply.
Scientists also observed an unusual dust cloud, with the help of MAVEN, about 93 miles (150 kilometers) above the Red Planet's surface.
The source of the dust, its contents, and whether it is temporary or permanent, are all unknown.
"Possible sources for the observed dust include dust wafted up from the atmosphere; dust coming from Phobos and Deimos, the two moons of Mars; dust moving in the solar wind away from the Sun; or debris orbiting the Sun from comets," NASA said.
"However, no known process on Mars can explain the appearance of dust in the observed locations from any of these sources."
The findings were presented at the 46th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas.
MAVEN launched toward Mars in November 2013, on a mission to study how the planet lost most of its water and atmosphere.
The unmanned orbiter is four months into its one-year mission.
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Scroofinator
1 / 5 (2) Mar 18, 2015cantdrive85
1.8 / 5 (5) Mar 18, 2015Funny someone can be called and "expert" when they are oblivious to the actual processes. One of these days these dolts will start experimenting with electric discharge to find the real cause, in about 50 years or so...
brahmix
5 / 5 (1) Mar 19, 2015cantdrive85
1 / 5 (3) Mar 22, 2015https://www.youtu...youtu.be
barakn
5 / 5 (5) Mar 22, 2015barakn
5 / 5 (5) Mar 23, 2015The video dismisses the ability of Mars wind to pick up large amounts of dust by comparing its density and temperature to those of Earth. By looking at Stokes' Law and the dynamic viscosities of ideal gases, we can investigate all the parameters that EU decided to ignore to come to that fallacious conclusion. First the settling velocity at http://en.wikiped..._a_Fluid can be used, assuming that an object can be lifted into the air if an upward-moving wind is faster than the object's terminal velocity. The lower the terminal velocity, the less wind is needed to pick up the object. The equation is directly proportional to the difference between the object's density and the fluid's density, but in this case the air density, whether on Mars or on Earth, is so much smaller than that of a common mineral that it can essentially be ignored.
barakn
5 / 5 (4) Mar 23, 2015barakn
5 / 5 (4) Mar 23, 2015yep
1 / 5 (5) Mar 25, 2015Most reasonable people would think you are ridiculous. watch the video again without bias and try to see the larger picture instead of fixating on static charge on a solar cell. The rest of your babble also seems pointless so wrap your head around the idea of hundreds of dust devils occurring at the same time, that has nothing to do with how dry the dust is. Our instruments have already proven dust devils on Mars and in the Arizona desert are dynamically electrical in nature, we just do not see those hundreds happen at the same time on earth, though I have seen a half dozen or so within a relative proximity.
Vietvet
3.7 / 5 (6) Mar 25, 2015An electrics charge doesn't create dust devils. Meteorological conditions create dust devils, the whirling dust particles then become charged, it's basic science, something you EU nutters can't grasp.
yep
1 / 5 (4) Mar 26, 2015When science advances not everyone gets the memo.
Captain Stumpy
5 / 5 (3) Apr 04, 2015TYPICAL eu pseudoscience
you are actually advocating the ignoring of the SCIENCE and acceptance of a VIDEO of someone's conjecture
re-read that comment from barakn
the BEST paraphrase is herejust because someone SAYS there is a prediction or that they believe something is predicted is NOT EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE of said prediction
your delusions are YOURS ALONE, and are only shared with those of your own faith
not of the scientific community
unless you can provide the EVIDENCE, then you are simply parroting a dogma or a set of tenets
that is RELIGION
not SCIENCE
just because YOU FELL FOR THE CON doesn't mean we all did
in this case, it is your belief that modern astro's don't know about plasma physics
that's been proven a LIE over and over
and even PLASMA PHYSICISTS use MHD you idiot
yep
1 / 5 (2) Apr 06, 2015