Article Dans Une Revue Science Advances Année : 2025

Detection of visible-wavelength aurora on Mars

Mark Lemmon
Chris Donaldson
Raymond Francis
Carey Legett
Franck Montmessin
Nicolas M Schneider
Roger C Wiens

Résumé

Mars hosts various auroral processes despite the planet’s tenuous atmosphere and lack of a global magnetic field. To date, all aurora observations have been at ultraviolet wavelengths from orbit. We describe the discovery of green visible-wavelength aurora, originating from the atomic oxygen line at 557.7 nanometers, detected with the SuperCam and Mastcam-Z instruments on the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. Near–real-time simulations of a Mars-directed coronal mass ejection (CME) provided sufficient lead-time to schedule an observation with the rover. The emission was observed 3 days after the CME eruption, suggesting that the aurora was induced by particles accelerated by the moving shock front. To our knowledge, detection of aurora from a planetary surface other than Earth has never been reported, nor has visible aurora been observed at Mars. This detection demonstrates that auroral forecasting at Mars is possible, and that during events with higher particle precipitation, or under less dusty atmospheric conditions, aurorae will be visible to future astronauts.

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Cite 10.5281/zenodo.13364068 Jeu de données European Space Agency, & Viet, S. (2024). MEX EDAC 2024-02-20 - 2024-04-11 [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.13364068

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hal-05073417 , version 1 (19-05-2025)

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Elise W Knutsen, Timothy H Mcconnochie, Mark Lemmon, Chris Donaldson, Raymond Francis, et al.. Detection of visible-wavelength aurora on Mars. Science Advances , 2025, 11 (20), pp.eads1563. ⟨10.1126/sciadv.ads1563⟩. ⟨hal-05073417⟩
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