NASA has made some exciting discovery on Mars. NASA’s space probes orbiting and present on the Martian surface have detected a massive aurora on Mars. The resultant aurora emerged due to a powerful solar storm striking the surface of the red planet. The cosmic event which took place earlier this year was accompanied by a powerful radiation blast that posed a significant threat to any future manned missions to Mars.
Between September 12 and 13, NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft captured a massive ultraviolet aurora on the Martian, 25 times brighter than any seen previously. This is was the biggest ever caught on Mars ever since Maven started orbiting the planet in 2014. That aurora was so powerful that its effects were felt even on Earth despite being on the opposite side of the sun.
The CME is the result of magnetic fields realigning on the sun. This phenomenon releases a massive cloud of magnetized particles into space. This matter also known as plasma travels millions of miles in space and collide with the atmosphere of planets that come in its way. So when this solar storm hit Mars atmosphere, it created auroras that lit up the whole planet in ultraviolet rays.
This burst of Aurora and radiation on Mars is seen as a threat to NASA’s plans of landing a man on the planet. Cosmic radiation is one of the key threats to human health in outer space. It is a significant threat that has for long bothered NASA to send astronauts on the potential interplanetary mission. The agency is now looking for newer ways to counter the threat of radiation spike as they plan to explore the Red Planet.
According to NASA, the observation will help in better understanding of the Red Planet. The solar storm on September 11 was one of many that take place on Mars. It will also unveil secrets that led to Mars being a barren, dry and atmosphere less world.
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