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Mars Has Auroras Without a Global Magnetic Field, And We Finally Know How - ScienceAlert

Mars Has Auroras Without a Global Magnetic Field, And We Finally Know How - ScienceAlert

Mars Has Auroras Without a Global Magnetic Field, And We Finally Know How - ScienceAlert
May 20, 2022 55 secs

New analysis has confirmed that these small, local magnetic fields interact with the solar wind in interesting ways to produce Mars's discrete (or structured) ultraviolet auroras.

"Our main finding is that inside the strong crustal field region, the aurora occurrence rate depends mostly on the orientation of the solar wind magnetic field, while outside the strong crustal field region, the occurrence rate depends mostly on the solar wind dynamic pressure.".

Ultraviolet images of Mars at night have revealed that auroras tend to form near these crustal magnetic fields, which makes sense if magnetic field lines are required for particle acceleration.

They compared data on the dynamic pressure of the solar wind, as well as the strength and angle of the interplanetary magnetic field, with ultraviolet data on the Martian auroras.

They found that, outside the crustal magnetic field regions, the dynamic pressure of the solar wind plays a significant role in the detection frequency of auroras.

Inside the crustal magnetic field regions, the orientation of the magnetic field and the solar wind seems to play a significant role in the formation of auroras on Mars.

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