NASA'a MAVEN spacecraft, which orbits Mars captured a stunning sight of aurora on the planet.
The stellar display of purple-coloured lights on the red planet was shared on Instagram by the official handle of NASA.
(Instagram/@NASA)While sharing the video, NASA wrote, "The brighter the purple, the more auroras were present.
(Solar maximum is the reason behind the recent auroras seen as far south as Alabama.)
An Instagram user posted, "That's incredible!
NASA'a MAVEN spacecraft, which orbits Mars captured a stunning sight of aurora on the planet. The stellar display of purple-coloured lights on the red planet was shared on Instagram by the official handle of NASA. Since the video was captured and posted, it has mesmerised many people on social media. Purple aurora captured on Mars. (Instagram/@NASA)
While sharing the video, NASA wrote, "The brighter the purple, the more auroras were present. Taken as waves of energetic particles from a solar storm were arriving at Mars, the sequence pauses at the end when the wave of the most energetic particles arrived and overwhelmed the instrument with noise."
Now catch your favourite game on Crickit. Anytime Anywhere. Find out how
The space agency further added, "The way these auroras occur is different than those seen on Earth. Our home planet is shielded from charged particles by a robust magnetic field, which normally limits auroras to regions near the poles. (Solar maximum is the reason behind the recent auroras seen as far south as Alabama.) Mars lost its internally generated magnetic field in the ancient past, so there's no protection from the barrage of energetic particles. When charged particles hit the Martian atmosphere, it results in auroras that engulf the entire planet." (Also Read: NASA sheds light on the Whirlpool Galaxy through a series of unseen images. Seen the viral pics yet?)
Watch the video here:
This post was shared a few days ago. Since being posted, it has gained close to seven million views. The share also has numerous likes and comments. (Also Read: NASA shares about 'planetary besties' Charon and Pluto. See mesmerising pic)
Here's how people reacted to it:
An individual wrote, "But aurora is mostly in green colour right? It looks completely different."
Someone said, "Wow, that's amazing."
"Wow! That's unbelievably beautiful," commented a third.
An Instagram user posted, "That's incredible! Any plans from NASA to photograph the aurora from the surface? Or will that need to wait for a future human mission?"
