THE SAME sunspot that produced Earth’s most spectacular display of solar energy in decades has created another record-breaking storm on Mars.
A fascinating video taken by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft shows an X12 solar flare – the strongest type – kicking up debris across the Red Planet’s arid landscape on May 20.
A few days earlier, the same eruption caused a geomagnetic storm on Earth that brought the aurora to Florida, Texas and other southern areas where the phenomenon rarely occurs.
The force of the storm was so intense that it caused white spots.snow” in the black-and-white navigation images from cameras on Mars.
Earth’s magnetic field protects us by channeling particles toward the poles and creating polar auroras, which we typically see as bright green and clear. pink lights.
However, Mars regularly experiences widespread auroras when hit by solar particles because there is no magnetic field.
The May solar storms were caused when the
Scientists took the opportunity to study video of the rare event and the debris it caused.
Researchers using NASA’s MAVEN orbiter, the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter and the Curiosity Mars rover said they collected the valuable data to help us better understand Mars and plan for future crewed missions.
“We really got the full range of space weather on Mars from May 11 to 20, from large outbursts, CMEs and an extremely energetic particle burst, and we’ve only just started analyzing the data. It really delivered as expected” , Ed Thiemann, a heliophysicist at the University of Colorado, told LiveScience.
“The eruption significantly inflated and warmed Mars’ atmosphere, as expected, and the resulting CME did indeed produce auroras,” he added.
A FRONT ROW SEAT TO THE STARS
MAVEN – short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution – had an awe-inspiring view of the spectacular energy above Mars.
The spacecraft’s Solar Energetic Particle instrument measured the aurora-creating energy and helped scientists recreate the event.
“This was the largest solar energetic particle event MAVEN has ever seen,” said Christina Lee, MAVEN Space Weather Lead at UC Berkeley.
“There have been several solar events in recent weeks, so we saw wave after wave of particles hitting Mars.”
Another instrument, the Radiation Assessment Detector, developed by Curiosity, picked up the most energetic particles that reached the surface of Mars.
RAD showed the incredible radiation generated by the particle storm: about 8,100 micrograms.
STRONGEST SOLAR STORM IN YEARS
If anyone was standing next one for the rover, it would be like taking 30 chest X-rays at once.
This was the largest spike observed in Curiosity’s 12 years on Mars.
Odyssey’s Star camera was briefly knocked offline by the energetic particles, but still collected data and X-rays with its high-energy neutron detector.
[The energy particles] are like a light drizzle that rains continuously on the surface, all the time.
Tamitha Skov
“The ‘spots’ and ‘streaks’ seen in the camera aboard Curiosity are not far removed from what astronauts see when their eyes are bombarded by radiation storm particles,” said Tamitha Skov, a retired Aerospace Corporation researcher and professor of space weather in Millersville. University in Pennsylvania, told Space.com.
“In fact, astronauts aboard the ISS often describe seeing ‘fireworks’ when they close their eyes during radiation storms.”
“This is because an energetic particle will deposit some energy when it passes straight through the CCD sensor in a camera or the retina in the eye, creating a false signal,” she explained.
Scientists say this level of radiation is not fatal to humans, but future Mars visitors will need good protection.
SAFER GALACTIC JOURNEY
The solar storm data will also help scientists understand how to protect astronauts from solar storms.
“Cliffs or lava tubes would provide an astronaut with additional protection against such an event,” Don Hassler, RAD’s chief scientific officer, said in a NASA news release.
“In orbit around Mars or in deep space, the dose rate would be significantly higher,” he added.
Mars Facts
Here’s what you need to know about the red planet…
- Mars is the fourth planet from the sun
- It is named after the Roman god of war
- The landmass of Mars is very similar to that of Earth, but due to the difference in gravity you could jump three times higher there than here
- Mars is mountainous and is home to the highest mountain known in the solar system, called Olympus Mons, which is three times higher than Everest
- Mars is considered the second most habitable planet after Earth
- It takes 687 Earth days for the planet to orbit the sun
- The planet has a diameter of 6,000 kilometers and has an average distance from Earth of 230 million kilometers.
- Temperatures on Mars can vary greatly, as high as 70F/20C or as low as -225F/-153C
In addition to human safety, solar storms could also affect food production on Mars.
‘Since growing up plants Because sunlight, energy and a lot of space are required, it will be difficult to grow enough food in lava tubes or caves, even if colonists are able to provide enough artificial light to sustain their growth,” Skov said.
“Unlike Earth, the atmosphere on Mars is so thin that energetic particles can penetrate all the way to the ground. This means that radiation storms, in one form or another, are an ongoing problem there.”
“They are like a light drizzle that continuously rains on the surface,” she added.
Now that the sunspot has returned to Mars, scientists are looking forward to learning more about this amazing solar event.
“This same sunspot group is still active this week and is orbiting Mars, and could provide more events that could help us understand the evolution and loss of Mars’ atmosphere,” Thiemann said.