Hope Probe Records First Images Of Aurora On Night Side Of Mars

These are the first images of the ‘Discrete Aurora’ on the night side atmosphere of Mars.

The images were taken by the United Arab Emirates’ Hope Probe orbiter as part of the country’s Mars Mission led by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre.

Dubai ruler and UAE vice president Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum shared a video on social media with the message: “The UAE’s Hope Probe, first-ever Arab interplanetary mission, has captured the first global images of Mars’ Discrete Aurora.

UAE’s Hope probe captures rare aurora on Mars. (@HopeMarsMission/Newsflash)

“The high-quality images open up unprecedented potential for the global science community to investigate solar interactions with Mars.”

The findings were captured by the probe’s ultraviolet spectrometer instrument, helping scientists to better understand the interaction between Mars’ magnetic fields, the atmosphere, and solar radiation.

Images show glowing areas called the ‘discrete aurora’, making it appear similar to the Earth’s aurorae which occur when protons and electrons from solar wind hit the particles in the atmosphere, creating colourful lights in the sky.

UAE’s Hope probe captures rare aurora on Mars. (@HopeMarsMission/Newsflash)

On Mars, there are three types of aurorae –diffuse, proton, and discrete.

The new high-resolution images of the discrete aurora give scientists huge insight into the planet’s atmosphere and interaction with solar particles.

Images of aurorae on Mars’ night side have proved difficult to capture in the past, however, Hope is carrying out a unique elliptical orbit around the planet and observes the dark side on each 55-hour orbit.