NASA's Mars Orbiter Discovers Auroras on the Red Planet in "Purple Rain"

United States Space Agency Space enthusiasts are enthralled with NASA's frequent release of breathtaking photos from our universe. Fans of instructive films and eye-catching photos of Earth and space will find a wealth of content on NASA's social media accounts. The space agency recently thrilled its Instagram followers with an animated GIF that depicted auroras on Mars' nightside. The US space agency's Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph instrument aboard NASA's MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) satellite managed to catch this infrequent occurrence.

"The Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph instrument on NASA's MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) satellite detected auroras across Mars' nightside, as seen in the purple tint of this video. There were more auroras when the purple was brighter. The video, which was captured as waves of powerful particles from a solar storm approached Mars, pauses at the end as the wave of the most powerful particles came and overpowered the device with noise, according to NASA's description of the image. 

This magnificent display of purple-colored lights on the red planet was photographed by NASA's MAVEN between May 14 and May 20, 2018. The space agency clarified in the caption that these auroras happen differently than those we observe on Earth. 

"A strong magnetic field protects our globe from charged particles, keeping auroras confined to areas close to the poles. (The recent auroras observed as far south as Alabama are caused by solar maximum.) There is no defense against the onslaught of energetic particles on Mars because the planet long ago lost its naturally occurring magnetic field. The space agency stated that auroras that cover the entire planet are caused by charged particles striking the Martian atmosphere.