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Mars Space Science

Looking at a Martian Aurora Borealis 100

Posted by CowboyNeal from the northern-lights dept.
mike_1138 writes "According to new research, 'The Martian auroras differ from those on Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune...' I've seen the Borealis here on Earth, and they're beautiful. I can't imagine what they must look like in a Martian night."
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Looking at a Martian Aurora Borealis More

Looking at a Martian Aurora Borealis

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  • Oh. Great. (Score:5, Funny)

    by soupdevil ( 587476 ) on Thursday June 16, 2005 @07:46PM (#12837566)
    New Slashdot category -- things we can't imagine...

  • The Martian auroras differ... (Score:5, Funny)

    by TripMaster Monkey ( 862126 ) * on Thursday June 16, 2005 @07:47PM (#12837567)


    Of course they're different...the Martians are causing them to strobe out the message 'Keep your junk off our planet'.

    Too bad no one on Earth understands Martian Morse code...

    ^_^

  • "auroras on Mars appear to form when charged particles from the sun speed up over magnetized rocks in the planet's crust."

    Not exactly like staring at the sky is it.

    • Not exactly like staring at the sky is it.

      From TFA:
      The light show was about 30 kilometres across and about eight kilometres high

      Now assuming this is 8km from the ground (and not 8km in height) I'd say it's staring at the sky for most people that would be on Mars (if there were any people on Mars).
  • No government is safe from the prying eyes of... people with eyes!

    http://accelerationresearch.tripod.com/ [tripod.com]

  • I can't imagine what they must look like on Mars (Score:4, Funny)

    by syntap ( 242090 ) on Thursday June 16, 2005 @07:54PM (#12837622)
    Or on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune either I assume.

  • Little Chief! (Score:2, Offtopic)

    by kryogen1x ( 838672 )
    Maybe these auroras will allow us to communicate with Martians in the future? I hope they tell me who wins the World Series.

  • Don'l look like much (Score:5, Interesting)

    by pegasustonans ( 589396 ) on Thursday June 16, 2005 @07:57PM (#12837639)
    I've seen the Borealis here on Earth, and they're beautiful. I can't imagine what they must look like in a Martian night.

    Well, considering they're estimated to be about 1% as powerful, I'd have to venture a guess that they really don't look like much at all. At least not in visible light.

  • Aurora Borealis? NO! Aurora Australis! (Score:5, Informative)

    by Bananatree3 ( 872975 ) on Thursday June 16, 2005 @07:57PM (#12837642)
    FTA:Auroras were detected from Terra Cimmeria in the southern hemisphere of Mars.

    southern hemispher auroras are called Aurora Australis. Nothern Hemisphere auroras are Aurora Borealis.

    • The terms "Borealis" and "Australis" are somewhat meaningless on Mars. The correct term is simply "Aurora". It's the editors who made the goof.

      • Re:Aurora Borealis? NO! Aurora Australis! (Score:5, Informative)

        by zakezuke ( 229119 ) on Thursday June 16, 2005 @09:21PM (#12838068)
        The terms "Borealis" and "Australis" are somewhat meaningless on Mars. The correct term is simply "Aurora". It's the editors who made the goof.

        Borealis, Boreas - The great north wind; greek god of. aka Aquilo
        Australis, Auster - The great south wind; roman god of. aka Notus

        Aurora - latin / middle english - Dawn

        If you want to be anal about the subject, Aurora Aquilonis would be a bit more consistent with the Roman theme. But both words would apply on other planets just as well as they do on earth as it means the dawn north or south wind.

        • No, still wrong... (Score:5, Interesting)

          by umofomia ( 639418 ) on Thursday June 16, 2005 @10:03PM (#12838315) Journal
          Borealis, Boreas - The great north wind; greek god of. aka Aquilo
          Australis, Auster - The great south wind; roman god of. aka Notus
          Even though the aurora was observed in the southern hemisphere of Mars, it doesn't mean it should automatically be called aurora australis. They're called borealis and australis on Earth because they're caused by the magnetic field lines going to the northern and southern poles, respectively.

          However, because Mars' magnetic field is too weak to create the phenomenon by similar means, the aurora is caused by a separate mechanism, namely the magnetic anomalies described in the article, which can occur anywhere on the planet. For this reason, it should not be called aurora borealis or aurora australis, but rather aurora [insert god of magnetic rocks here].

          • However, because Mars' magnetic field is too weak to create the phenomenon by similar means, the aurora is caused by a separate mechanism, namely the magnetic anomalies described in the article, which can occur anywhere on the planet. For this reason, it should not be called aurora borealis or aurora australis, but rather aurora [insert god of magnetic rocks here].

            Valid point. I was thinking that the concept of a southern pole being at a 90 degree angle in relation to the path of travel of a celesteral b
            • Valid point. I was thinking that the concept of a southern pole being at a 90 degree angle in relation to the path of travel of a celesteral body, but hey.

              Poles are relative to the axis of rotation, not the plane of the orbit.

              Uranus is tilted something like 87 degrees, so twice a (Uranus) year the poles line up with the path of travel.

              I never said Uranus so many times in one discussion. Not even as a joke.

          • To start with, I'm posting a related space.com URL (note the date this article was posted... /. behind the times):

            http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/050608_mars _ aurora.html [space.com]

            The magnetic field of Mars is more like what it will be like on the Earth when the pole reversal occurs: There are several north and south poles scattered all over the surface of Mars, including some near the equator. A "North Pole" and "South Pole" may only be a hundred miles apart in some cases.

            The overall effect of this is

      • The terms "Borealis" and "Australis" are somewhat meaningless on Mars. The correct term is simply "Aurora". It's the editors who made the goof.

        Yes, because (just to clarify the above statement) clearly there's no such thing as north and south on Mars.

        • To further clarify the above: there is not much of a magnetic north and south on Mars, as noted elsewhere in this discussion. Mars has been known to have a magnetic field since about 1997, but the planet's magnetisation is largely undifferentiated. Some regions, as also noted elsewhere in this discussion, do reach magnetic variation of up to 400 nT, which is not insignificant (see e.g. this article (pdf format) [mtholyoke.edu]).

          However, 'borealis' and 'australis' are not originally terms used in connection with magnetic f

    • RTFA = Read The Fucking Article

      TFA = The Fucking Article

      FTA = Fuck The Article?
      • That's what the so-called Free Trade Agreement (US-FTA) is working out to so far. Only small bits of the US are signatory to it, and those bits are definitely getting the longer end of the stick.

  • I've found that auroras on Uranus... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 16, 2005 @08:00PM (#12837656)
    ...burn more.

    • Oblig. Futurama Reference (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Fry: Did you build the Smelloscope?

      Prof. Farnsworth: No, I remembered that I'd built one last year. Go ahead, try it. You'll find that every heavenly body has its own particular scent. Here, I'll point it at Jupiter.

      Fry: Smells like strawberries.

      Prof. Farnsworth: Exactly. And now, now Saturn.

      Fry: Pine needles. Oh, man, this is great... hey, as long as you don't make me smell Uranus.

      Leela: I don't get it.

      Prof. Farnsworth: I'm sorry, Fry, but astronomers renamed Uranus in 2620 to end that stupid joke on
  • Does this mean that there is some radiation protection due to the magnetism in rocks on mars?

    Is this enough protection that people won't need heavy gear to protect themselves from solar flares?

  • Hrm... (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Robotron23 ( 832528 )
    Mars' atmosphere couldn't permit the spectacular light displays that can be witnessed here on Earth. While Mar's atmosphere stretches further into space than Earth's, its just not substantial enough to allow auroras. Further to this, since the solar wind has to travel further to Mars due to its distance from the sun the overall power of the aurorae would be reduced obviously.

    Furthermore, the actual sighting was seen in the southern hemisphere, theres definately a different name for auroras that occur south


    • While Mar's [sic]atmosphere stretches further into space than Earth's, its just not substantial enough to allow auroras.

      I was under the impression that auroras were the result of charged particles in the solar wind being deflected by the magnetosphere, and was not dependent on atmosphere at all.

      While Mars does receive much less solar radiation than Earth, its magnetic field is nearly as strong, so auroras should have respectable strength.

      • I was under the impression that Mars's has a very weak magnetic field now. One theory is that the solar winds "blew away" most of the atmospheare which it turn cause the surface to lose heat and freeze up trundra style.

        • Re:Hrm... (Score:4, Interesting)

          by TripMaster Monkey ( 862126 ) * on Thursday June 16, 2005 @08:29PM (#12837803)


          Actually, I have to correct an error in my previous post...the magnetic field strength of the Martian crust is 400 nT...compared to Earth's 3000 nT, it's a far cry from 'nearly as strong'.

          As for the solar winds, an insufficiently strong magnetic field would contribute to the solar wind eroding both the surface and the atmosphere over time.

          • True but Earth 93 million miles away from the sun, while Mars 142 million miles away. If I remember my old surface area of a sphere equation, the solar wind should be about 2.3 times weaker when it gets to mars. That's a lot less for it's magnetic field to have to deflect. It's still getting hit hard, but not quite as bad as the 3000 vs 400 would at first make you think.

      • Re:Hrm... (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Actually, Mars's magnetic field is weak -- indeed, it does not have a global field created by an active core, but rather weak patches -- link [ucsd.edu]

        Here on Earth, the visible aurora has little to do with the magnetosphere either. While ionized particles from the solar wind are funneled towards the magnetic poles of the Earth (imagine spiralling along the field lines), the actual light is caused when atmospheric gas is bombarded by these particles, kicking them into higher energy states. These energy states te
        • I should've been moderating you up...but..

          Here is one misconception, though. Often energetic particles in the solar wind isn't strong enough to penetrate through Earth's magnetic field. Mostly they get deflected, instead. But when the particles interact with the magnetic field, they stretch the Earth's field line. And sometimes the stretch is severe enough that the field lines get snapped (i.e., imagine a rubber band) to merge together (called magnetic reconnection). This happens at a downstream of the sol
      • Mars has a negligable magnetic field, so there aren't any atmospheric auroras. The article seems to say that the auroras are created by charged particles passing over magnetized rocks on the surface, so there isn't an atmospheric aurora.

  • Maybe once, then I'd sleep in (Score:5, Funny)

    by smchris ( 464899 ) on Thursday June 16, 2005 @08:27PM (#12837792)

    It's hard enough to get me out for this sort of thing when it's 0F. At -100F, it better be REALLY, REALLY pretty.

  • "...I've seen the Borealis here on Earth, and they're beautiful. I can't imagine what they must look like in a Martian night."

    For those who haven't seen them, I happened to get some nice pictures of the bunch from this past May 14/15. Please don't melt down my server [homeip.net], but enjoy the pictures.

    On the other hand, it doesn't seem likely anyone here hasn't already seen them in pictures, but what the heck.

      • Thanks for the tip. It's a bit late now, of course, and too bad I can't go back and edit my post. It seems to be bearing up fairly well (but then, it's not like it got on the front page or in a first post), but I suppose I'll never know whether that's because of your "coral cache" link, or in spite of it. But at least I'll know better next time.
    • " Please don't melt down my server" Riiiggghhtt...

      • Can't say I'm sure which way you meant that, but I don't think I've ever posted a link to my own "server" before in a Slashdot post (not counting the link that's part of my profile), so I had no idea how severe it would be for a link that wasn't in the article itself, or at least a first post. So far, it seems pretty trivial, so if the gist of your sarcasm was "as if it's going to bring you a massive buttload of traffic," you're right on the money. If, on the other hand, your sarcasm was meaning "as if anyo

    • I have very bad color vision. I have never really seen these lights I believe.

      (color vision problems are tremendously exagerated by low light levels).

      The films always show the light patterns changing very rapidly, The complete pattern seems to change in less than a minute

      Do they change that quick, or is it time laspe photgraphy?

      Thanks

      • To tell the truth, I couldn't see any of those colours myself. But then, I live in a rather brightly lit area of the city, which makes it even harder to see the colours.

        And yes, they do change that quickly! (Note the timestamps on the pictures.) This was much more active than the couple of others I've seen, and a big part of the reason for the pictures being so grainy is that I didn't want to leave the shutter open too long, or they would've blurred out all over the place, so I had to crank up the ISO. I t

  • Imagination is a nice thing... (Score:3, Funny)

    by NitsujTPU ( 19263 ) on Thursday June 16, 2005 @08:34PM (#12837830)
    I can't imagine what they must look like in a Martian night

    I can't either. They should take a picture of it.
  • well...you could look at the pictures...those help. :-)
  • ....is it visible from earth? *ducks*
  • Curious, how does a magnetic field go extinct, like it did on Mars?
    • Planetary magnetic fields are caused by the activity in the interior of the planet. From Wikipedia:

      The Earth's core, however, is hotter than 1043 K, the Curie point temperature at which the orientations of electron orbits within iron become randomized. Such randomization tends to cause the substance to lose its magnetic field. Therefore the Earth's magnetic field is caused not by magnetised iron deposits, but mostly by electric currents (known as telluric currents).
      Another feature that distinguishes t

    • I think that as the molten core cools and solidifies it stops rotating and the magnetic field dies, Ours is dying now, go rent The Core it will explain it all. I get my science from Hollywood and the Discovery Channel

  • atmospheric composition (Score:3, Insightful)

    by viva_fourier ( 232973 ) on Thursday June 16, 2005 @08:52PM (#12837919) Journal
    Looking at Mars' Atmosphere [uoregon.edu] there is substantially less atmospheric oxygen, nitrogen, and argon on the red planet.

    Since, Earth's Aurora is caused by the magnectic excitation of ions in the atmosphere, namely the O2 and N2 -- I imagine the "Aurora Martiania" would be a lot less intense. Also, because there's a greater distance to Mars from the Sun, I would also think the intensity of the magnetic 'bursts' would be smaller (due to lambertian emission, i.e. equidirectional).

    But, since "they've" detected *something*, it's reasonable to say there is an aurora present on Mars. I would wait on booking your MLT vacation until some hard evidence comes in...

  • 1. Build spaceship 2. Go to mars 3. ????? 4. Profit!

  • Q&A (Score:1)

    by zenneth ( 767572 )
    "I can't imagine what they must look like in a Martian night."

    very cold.
  • This thread is useless without pics. Wait, this is Fark right?

  • ob Simpson's (Score:2, Funny)

    by po_boy ( 69692 )
    That's nothing. I've had them localized entirely within my kitchen.
  • I can't imagine what they must look like in a Martian night. The Aurora Boreallis probably look ... small.
  • Well, the name "Mars" is the name of the Roman god of war, and associayed with Sol 4, the red planet. Terran aurora are named "Borealis" and "Australis", associated with the North ans South poles respectively. Since the Martian auroras are not associated specificly with poles, they could be refered to as:
    Arean, Angarean, Artagnean, Mirikhan, Pyroeian, Lohitangan, Mustabarrunian, Verethragnan, Salbatanun, Urbarran, Nirgalan, or my favorite, Nabunian, after the Babylonian/ Sumarian/ Chaldean god Nabu.
  • Am I the only person who's never seen an aurora? Everyone keeps mentioning how they can't imagine what it looks like on other planets... well I can't imagine what it looks like on ours! I need to get out more.
    • Don't feel bad, it is kinda hard to be able to see it down here in KY. I have never seen it but am hoping that something I will get to. Had a friend once who always talked about it and rubbing it in.

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