Space.com reports that a probe sent by the United Arab Emirates in order to study Martian atmospheric conditions has captured an extremely rare event on camera. It was a nightside aurora from Mars.One of the Hope orbiters' scientific instruments captured the aurora before the formal science mission began. This is a rare and fleeting phenomenon that has been very difficult to study.Wednesday's images show auroras in bright structures against the dark Martian night.It's a wonderful chance encounter. The discovery was not part of the core science observations that were planned for the mission. This could have set up the Emirates Mars Mission for many exciting discoveries to be made later in the year.AdvertisementAdvertisementThey are not easy to catch and so seeing them almost immediately with [Emirates Mars Mission] was quite exciting, Justin Deighan, a University of Colorado planetary scientist and deputy science leader of the mission, said Space.com.This was definitely something we had in our sights, but looking at our first nighttime data, one can only wonder if it is. Deighan said that it couldn't be true! That was a lot fun.The earth's magnetic field is the link between auroras and Earth. Charged particles are blasted into the atmosphere. This alters their trajectories and causes existing particles to ionize, emitting light of different colors, as they interact.These auroras on Mars are not limited to the south and north poles. They can also be seen throughout the rest of Mars.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe magnetic atmosphere of the Red Planets is not aligned like a giant bar magnet like Earths.Deighan explained that it's more like if you took a bag full of magnets and tossed them into the crust.He added that they all point in different directions. They all have their strengths.These scattered magnetic fields cause the solar wind particles to scatter in different directions. They interact with the atoms and molecules of the planet's upper atmosphere, which causes the glow.AdvertisementAdvertisementUltraviolet Spectrometer probes were originally designed to study the huge halo of hydrogen, oxygen and other elements that surround the Red Planet. This eventually dissipates into open spaces.Hessa Al Matroushi (missions science lead) said that they had anticipated that the instrument could do this. It was not designed to do this. We do have a global coverage mission and we were looking at Mars from different angles and within the atmosphere. This allowed us to measure discrete auroras which is extremely exciting.Matroushi explained to the Times that the team hopes the discovery will open new avenues of research into the Martian atmosphere and its interaction with solar activity.READ MORE: UAE's Hope Mars orbiter spots the elusive aurora on Red Planet [Space.com]AdvertisementAdvertisementMore information: First Arab Nation to Orbit Mars Snaps Instagram-Worthy Planet PicFuturism readers are invited to join the Singularity Global Community. This is our parent company's forum for futuristic science and technology discussions with other like-minded people around the globe. Sign up today to get started!
