Mars showed off its mysterious face in a photo taken by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.
For the first time in the history of the Red Planet’s night sky, a soft green glow was discovered, muted by the darkness of the Martian night.
This astonishing discovery was the result of research conducted by planetary scientists from the University of Liège in Belgium led by Jean-Claude Gerard.
“These observations are unexpected and interesting for future trips to the Red Planet,” says Gerard.
Scientists say the nightglow on Mars is caused by a rare phenomenon in which oxygen atoms recombine into dioxide (O2) molecules during the Martian winter at an altitude of 40 to 60 kilometers.
This glow is so bright that it could become a guideline for researchers trying to determine the brightness of nighttime on Mars.
By comparison, on Earth, nightglow appears as layers of green, gold, and reddish light due to the recombination of free atoms into molecules in the atmosphere.
But on other planets, such as Venus and Jupiter, the night glow has its own unique characteristics, as if each planet reveals its own unique light code.
