Detection of visible-wavelength aurora on Mars
Mars hosts various auroral processes despite the planet's tenuous atmosphere and lack of a global magnetic field. To date, all aurora observations have been at ultraviolet wavelengths from orbit. We describe the discovery of green visible-wavelength aurora, originating from the atomic oxygen line at 557.7 nanometers, detected with the SuperCam and Mastcam-Z instruments on the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. Near-real-time simulations of a Mars-directed coronal mass ejection (CME) provided sufficient lead-time to schedule an observation with the rover. The emission was observed 3 days after the CME eruption, suggesting that the aurora was induced by particles accelerated by the moving shock front. To our knowledge, detection of aurora from a planetary surface other than Earth has never been reported, nor has visible aurora been observed at Mars. This detection demonstrates that auroral forecasting at Mars is possible, and that during events with higher particle precipitation, or under less dusty atmospheric conditions, aurorae will be visible to future astronauts.
Authors
- M. T. Lemmon
- J. Lasue (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9082-4457)
- Tanguy Bertrand (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2302-9776)
- L. K. Tamppari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5124-6375)
- J. F. Bell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2006-4074)
- Elise Wright Knutsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7702-2844)
- Shannon Curry (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7463-9419)
- P. Pilleri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4861-0476)
- Susanne Schröder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1870-3663)
- Franck Montmessin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4187-1457)
- Olivier Witasse (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3461-5604)
- T. H. McConnochie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5542-3903)
- Priya Patel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7407-3251)
- V. Apéstigue (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4349-8019)
- Chris Donaldson
- S. Maurice (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5702-8002)
- Daniel Toledo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0103-1891)
- Raymond Francis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9031-5238)
- Carey Legett (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4741-2841)
- R. Jolitz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6360-0140)
- N. M. Schneider (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6720-5519)
- R. C. Wiens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3409-7344)
- O. Forni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6772-9689)
- Christina O. Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1604-3326)
- A. Cousin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7823-7794)
- A. Rahmati (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0519-6498)
- Shayla Viet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1915-1398)
- Lauriane Soret (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4093-330X)
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Space Science Institute (US)
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (US)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (US)
- University of Liège (BE)
- University of Oslo (NO)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (FR)
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NO)
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Observatoire de Paris (FR)
- Malin Space Science Systems (United States) (US)
- Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR) (DE)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (US)
- Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (FR)
- Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (ES)
- Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique (FR)
- Laboratoire atmosphères, milieux, observations spatiales (FR)
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (FR)
- European Space Research and Technology Centre (NL)
- University College London (GB)
- Arizona State University (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2025-05-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ads1563
- Primary Topic
- Planetary Science and Exploration
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- California Institute of Technology
- Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS
- Norges Forskningsråd
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Goddard Space Flight Center