Aurorae spotted on Mars
Posted: Tue, Dec 13, 2005, 8:30 AM ET (1330 GMT)
A reanalysis of data from a NASA mission has turned up evidence of hundreds of auroral events at Mars, scientists said Monday. Researchers at the University of California Berkeley said that they detected 13,000 signals in data from an electron reflectometer instrument on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft; those signals corresponded to hundreds of separate aurorae. Unlike the Earth, where aurorae are linked to the planet's magnetic field, Martian aurorae are linked to patches of strong magnetic fields in the crust of the planet's southern hemisphere, and are likely visible only at ultraviolet wavelengths. The scientists decided to study six years' worth of MGS data after an instrument on ESA's Mars Express spacecraft detected an ultraviolet flash earlier this year; scientists linked that flash to an aurora.
A reanalysis of data from a NASA mission has turned up evidence of hundreds of auroral events at Mars, scientists said Monday. Researchers at the University of California Berkeley said that they detected 13,000 signals in data from an electron reflectometer instrument on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft; those signals corresponded to hundreds of separate aurorae. Unlike the Earth, where aurorae are linked to the planet's magnetic field, Martian aurorae are linked to patches of strong magnetic fields in the crust of the planet's southern hemisphere, and are likely visible only at ultraviolet wavelengths. The scientists decided to study six years' worth of MGS data after an instrument on ESA's Mars Express spacecraft detected an ultraviolet flash earlier this year; scientists linked that flash to an aurora.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Friday, February 6
A presidential greeting ahead of Sophie Adenot's first spaceflight
ESA — 6:34 am ET (1134 GMT) Ukrainian Defense Ministry says Starlink terminals used by Russia in Ukraine are ‘cut off’
CNN — 6:33 am ET (1133 GMT) Russian troops on front lines lose access to Starlink internet terminals, Ukraine says
Washington Times — 6:32 am ET (1132 GMT) United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket prepares for national security mission
WFTV Orlando — 6:28 am ET (1128 GMT) SpaceX prepares to launch 25 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base
KSBY-TV San Luis Obispo, CA — 6:27 am ET (1127 GMT) |
