Text: Arif Ibrahim
Foto: European Space Agency
Green light illuminates the night on Mars. For the first time, this night light was detected in the Martian atmosphere by the European Space Agency (ESA) on its mission, ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). This light is bright enough for humans to see and makes it easier for explorers to navigate on dark nights.
This night light has been detected by the device Mars Express in the form of infrared waves a decade ago. Then in 2020, the TGO probe confirmed this discovery by detecting oxygen atoms glowing green on the day side of Mars. This was the first moment when daylight emissions were discovered on a planet other than Earth. These atoms also migrate to the night side of Mars, where they combine at lower altitudes and produce visible nightglow. Nightglow This is the green light that illuminates the night on Mars.
Artist’s impression of TGO’s discovery of Nightglow. (Photo: European Space Agency)
Nightglow appears when two oxygen atoms combine to form an oxygen molecule, about 50 Km above the surface of Mars. These oxygen atoms are formed on the day side of Mars. Carbon dioxide exposed to the Sun gets energy and splits into oxygen atoms. Then these atoms migrate to the night side and stop being excited by the Sun. As a result of this process, they regroup at a lower altitude, then emit green light.
“This emission is due to the recombination of oxygen atoms created in the summer atmosphere and transported by winds to high winter latitudes, at altitudes of 40 to 60 km in the Martian atmosphere,” explained Lauriane Soret, a researcher from The Laboratory of Atmospheric and Planetary Physics at the University of Liège. This light is thought to shine as bright as clouds exposed to moonlight.
2023-11-21 12:01:12
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