Physicists explain how auroras form on Mars

In a new study, physicists have studied the discrete aurora.Mostly at night in the southern

There are three types of auroras on Mars: proton, diffuse, and discrete.None of them are visible to the naked eye, and you need to use special equipment to observe them .

Although scientists were aware of individual auroras on Mars, the nature of their formation remained poorly understood. That's because the Red Planet doesn't havea global magnetic field, such as Earth's, which is the main trigger for their appearance.

The discrete aurora on Mars is determined by the interaction between the solar wind, a constant stream of charged particles from theScientists have found that the nature of this localized interaction leads to theto the appearance of Aurora.

“Our main conclusion is that withinIn the region of the strong field of the Earth's crust, the frequency of occurrence of auroras mainly depends on the orientation of the magnetic field of the solar wind. And outside the region of the strong field of the earth's crust - from the dynamic pressure of the solar wind, ”the authors of the study note.

In the new study, scientists conducted more than 200 observations of the discrete aurora on Mars using data from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutionN (MAVEN) spacecraft. 

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