NASA says that a recent unexpected solar storm from the Sun hit Mars so hard that it made a "global aurora" 25 times brighter than its MAVEN orbiter had seen since 2014.
The U.S. space agency reports the solar event occurred on Sept. 11, and also produced radiation levels on the Red Planet's surface more than double of what was previously recorded in the last five years. NASA says the high radiation levels maintained for more than two days.
This animation shows the sudden appearance of a bright aurora on Mars during a solar storm. The purple-white color scheme shows the intensity of ultraviolet light over the course of the event, from observations on Sept. 12 and 13, 2017, by the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph on NASA's MAVEN orbiter.
"This is exactly the type of event both missions were designed to study, and it's the biggest we've seen on the surface so far," Radiation Assessment Detector investigator Don Hassler said in a NASA news release.
"It will improve our understanding of how such solar events affect the Martian environment, from the top of the atmosphere all the way down to the surface."
MAVEN scientist Elsayed Talaat added that the mission was put in the right place to "examine the effects of such solar events at Mars as never possible before." The MAVEN orbiter has been studying the Red Planet's atmosphere by interacting with its solar wind since 2014, NASA says.
The U.S. space agency said the unexpected powerful solar storm came during a typically quiet time in the Sun's cycle. The solar event was so strong, that it was detected on Earth even though our planet was on the opposite side of the Sun from Mars.
For those wondering what the event was like on the Martian planet's surface, Hassler said that if you were on a "Mars walk" that you would definitely want to seek shelter during this storm.
"The Sun is always emitting a continuous stream of charged particles, mainly electrons and protons. Occasionally, eruptions called coronal mass ejections occur, with higher density, energy and speed of the ejected particles," NASA writes in the release.
"These events vary in strength. Strong ones cause dramatic aurora displays on Earth, and very strong ones can disrupt communications. Some coronal mass ejections, such as this month's event, are broad enough in extent to affect planets in quite different directions from the Sun."
The space agency said analysis of the major solar event is in the early stages, and that they expect to have a better understanding of it and the Martian atmosphere through this work.
"When a solar storm hits the Martian atmosphere, it can trigger auroras that light up the whole planet in ultraviolet light," Sonal Jail, a member of MAVEN's team and the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, explained in the release.
"The recent one lit up Mars like a light bulb. An aurora on Mars can envelope the entire planet because Mars has no strong magnetic field like Earth's to concentrate the aurora near polar regions."
Read Again NASA says solar storm sparked global aurora, 'lit up Mars like a light bulb' : http://ift.tt/2wttiwcBagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "NASA says solar storm sparked global aurora 'lit up Mars like a light bulb'"
Post a Comment