Earth may have been witness to a stunning aurora displays, but they are nothing compared to what can be seen on Mars. Because Mars has a very thin atmosphere, the sun's energetic particles hit it directly and penetrate deeper creating incredibly bright and vast light shows. And their behaviour doesn't always follow existing rules. Nasa scientists were recently stunned to discover aurora that reaches deep into the Martian atmosphere. Artist’s conception of Maven's Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph (IUVS) observing the “Christmas Lights Aurora" on Mars. Maven observations show that aurora on Mars is similar to Earth’s "Northern Lights" but penetrates deep into the atmosphere . Earth has a magnetic shield, known as a magnetosphere, that protects its atmosphere from radiation from the sun. Aurora take place on Earth because some of the sun's energetic particles have managed to break through this shield. Mars, however, only has a very thin atmosphere. Its magnetosphere was lost billions of years ago turning a once watery world into the barren planet we see today. When solar particles hit the red planet, they can hit the atmosphere directly and penetrate deeper creating incredibly bright and vast light shows. Maven's Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) also observed what scientists have named 'Christmas lights.' For five days just before Dec. 25, Maven saw a bright ultraviolet auroral glow spanning Mars' northern hemisphere. Aurora, known on Earth as northern or southern lights, are caused by energetic particles like electrons crashing down into the atmosphere and causing the gas to glow. 'What's especially surprising about the aurora we saw is how deep in the atmosphere it occurs - much deeper than at Earth or elsewhere on Mars,' said Arnaud Stiepen, IUVS team member at the University of Colorado. 'The electrons producing it must be really energetic.' The source of the energetic particles appears to be the sun. Maven's Solar Energetic Particle instrument detected a huge surge in energetic electrons at the onset of the aurora. Billions of years ago, Mars lost a global protective magnetic field like Earth has, so solar particles can directly strike the atmosphere. The electrons producing the aurora have about 100 times more energy than you get from a spark of house current, so they can penetrate deeply in the atmosphere. They also made the unexpected discovery of dust about 93 miles (150 km) to 190 miles (300 km) above the red planet's surface. Although the source and composition of the dust are unknown, Nasa said there is no hazard to Maven probe and other spacecraft orbiting Mars. A map of Maven's auroral detections in December 2014 overlaid on Mars’ surface. The map shows that the aurora was widespread in the northern hemisphere, not tied to any geographic location. The aurora was detected in all observations during a 5-day period . 'If the dust originates from the atmosphere, this suggests we are missing some fundamental process in the Martian atmosphere,' said Laila Andersson of the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospherics and Space Physics (CU LASP), Boulder, Colorado. It is unknown if the cloud is a temporary phenomenon or something long lasting. The cloud density is greatest at lower altitudes. However, even in the densest areas it is still very thin. So far, no indication of its presence has been seen in observations from any of the other Maven instruments. Possible sources for the observed dust include dust wafted up from the atmosphere; dust coming from Phobos and Deimos, the two moons of Mars; dust moving in the solar wind away from the sun; or debris orbiting the sun from comets. However, no known process on Mars can explain the appearance of dust in the observed locations from any of these sources. The findings are being presented this week at the 46th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas. Earth may have been witness to a stunning displays of the aurora (pictured), but they are nothing compared to what can be seen on Mars Because has a thin atmosphere, the sun's energetic particles hit it directly and penetrate deeper. Nasa has only been able to detect the aurora rather capture it in an image .
Maven probe spotted ultraviolet auroral glow in northern hemisphere . What was suprising was how deep in the atmosphere aurora occurred . Dust was also found up to 190 miles (300 km) above planet's surface . No known process on Mars can explain the appearance of dust clouds .