MAVEN Magnetometer

MAVEN data have enabled the first map of the electric current systems (blue and red arrows) that shape the induced magnetic field surrounding Mars.Credit: NASA/Goddard/MAVEN/CU Boulder/SVSUniversal Production Music: “A Lucid Dream” and “Shimmer Oscillations” by James Joshua OttoWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. In this data visualization, the yellow arrow at upper left shows the direction of the solar wind at Mars, while cyan lines depict the solar wind magnetic field observed by MAVEN. Blue and red arrows indicate the direction of electric currents in the Mars upper atmosphere, which were derived from several years of MAVEN data. These currents provide structure for the magnetic environment surrounding Mars, including the solar wind bow shock (gray outer paraboloid) and the Mars induced magnetosphere (green inner paraboloid).Credit: NASA/Goddard/MAVEN/CU Boulder/SVS Five years after NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft entered into orbit around Mars, data from the mission has led to the creation of a map of electric current systems in the Martian atmosphere. Unlike Earth, Mars lacks a protective global magnetic field to shield its upper atmosphere from the solar wind. Instead, the solar wind crashes into the upper atmosphere and its magnetic field lines drape around the planet. This creates an induced magnetosphere that tugs on charged particles in the Mars upper atmosphere, generating electric currents. Now, MAVEN’s detailed measurements of the magnetic environment surrounding Mars have revealed the shape of these electric currents for the first time.Read the science paper in Nature Astronomy. For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/goddard/2020/mars-electric-currents) Related pages

Take a tour of Jupiter's dynamo, the source of its giant magnetic field, in this new global map from the Juno mission. Watch this video on the NASA.gov Video YouTube channel. Jupiter's northern hemisphere contains an area of positive magnetic flux (red) offset from the geographic north pole by approximately 45 degrees. Jupiter's southern hemisphere predominantly contains areas of negative flux (blue). Jupiter magnetic field map with contours indicating field strength and positive or negative flux. Jupiter magnetic field map without contours. Jupiter magnetic field map with longitude and latitude marked in 30 degree increments. Jupiter magnetic field map without the planetary texture. A map of Jupiter's visible surface. NASA’s Juno mission has provided the first view of the dynamo, or engine, powering Jupiter's magnetic field. The new global portrait reveals unexpected irregularities and regions of surprising magnetic field intensity, including one already playfully known as the Great Blue Spot. Red areas show where magnetic field lines emerge from the planet, while blue areas show where they return. As Juno continues its mission, it will improve our understanding of Jupiter's complex magnetic environment. Learn more about Juno's observations, and the new map of Jupiter's magnetic field. For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-s-juno-mission-provides-infrared-tour-of-jupiter-s-north-pole) Related pages

NASA is sending the Juno spacecraft to peer beneath the cloudy surface of Jupiter. Juno's twin magnetometers, built at Goddard Space Flight Center, will give scientists their first look at the dynamo that drives Jupiter's vast magnetic field. Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. Artist concept depicting Jupiter's vast magnetosphere as it would appear in Earth's sky, with the Moon included for scale. Cutaway of Earth's interior. The convective motion of our planet's liquid outer core is thought to give rise to its dynamo and magnetic field. This animation is on a transparent background. Magnetic fields are all around us, unseen forces that can shape their environments in profound ways. Earth's magnetic field shields us from the solar wind, but the dynamo that generates it is hidden from view by the magnetized rock beneath our feet. Aside from the Sun, the solar system's largest magnetosphere belongs to Jupiter – a gargantuan magnetic windsock with a tail stretching out to the orbit of Saturn. Now, NASA is sending the Juno spacecraft to peer beneath Jupiter's clouds, giving scientists their first glimpse of the dynamo driving this giant magnetic field. In this interview, Juno Deputy Principal Investigator Jack Connerney discusses the mission and its magnetometers.Music from Killer Tracks: "Beep," "Jupiter's Eye," "Original Conquest," "Through the Mist," "Lost Roads."Learn more about Juno's magnetometers.Follow the Juno mission to Jupiter. For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/main/index.html) Related pages

Studying the Solar Wind at MarsRobert Lin, the late director of the Space Sciences Laboratory, discusses how NASA's MAVEN spacecraft will study the interaction of the Martian atmosphere with the solar wind. MAVEN's findings will reveal how Mars lost its early atmosphere, turning it from a warm, wet planet into the cold, dry one that we see today.Watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube channel.For complete transcript, click here. To planetary scientists, the Martian atmosphere presents an intriguing mystery: today it's a thin, cold wisp of carbon dioxide with just one percent the pressure of Earth's atmosphere, but long ago it was thick and warm enough to support lakes and rivers on the Martian surface. How did Mars lose so much of its early atmosphere? Scientists think that the solar wind may be responsible, and NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft is designed to find out. The instruments of MAVEN's Particles & Fields package will study the interaction of the solar wind with Mars's upper atmosphere, helping scientists to better understand how Mars became the freeze-dried planet that we see today. For More InformationSee [http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/maven/](http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/maven/) Related pages

SPUTTERING How did Mars, a once wet planet, lose its early atmosphere? One possibility is through a process called "sputtering," in which atoms are knocked away from the atmosphere due to impacts with energetic particles.For complete transcript, click here. NEUTRAL PROCESSES Scientists think that the collision of neutral hydrogen molecules may have helped to drive the Martian atmosphere into space over billions of years.For complete transcript, click here. PLASMA PROCESSES Mars's thick early atmosphere was likely lost to space, and the Sun is a potential culprit. When high-energy solar photons strike the upper Martian atmosphere they can ionize gas molecules, causing the atmosphere to erode over time. For complete transcript, click here. When you take a look at Mars, you probably wouldn't think that it looks like a nice place to live. It's dry, it's dusty, and there's practically no atmosphere. But some scientists think that Mars may have once looked like a much nicer place to live, with a thicker atmosphere, cloudy skies, and possibly even liquid water flowing over the surface. So how did Mars transform from a warm, wet world to a cold, barren desert? NASA's MAVEN spacecraft will give us a clearer idea of how Mars lost its atmosphere (and thus its water), and scientists think that several processes have had an impact.Learn more about these processes in the videos below! Related pages

MAVEN will use its Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer to study the interaction of neutral gases and ions in the Martian atmosphere with the solar wind, helping scientists to understand how Mars has lost its atmosphere over time.Watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube channel.For complete transcript, click here. While NASA rovers, landers, and orbiters have scrutinized the surface of Mars for decades, a key question to understanding the Red Planet's ancient habitability has hitherto gone unanswered: what happened to its atmosphere? NASA's MAVEN spacecraft will fill in this gap in the history of Mars, thanks in part to its Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer, or NGIMS instrument. By studying the interaction of neutral gases and ions with the solar wind, NGIMS will observe current atmospheric escape processes on Mars and allow scientists to extrapolate back to the ancient atmosphere. The results could tell scientists just how long Mars was warm, wet, and hospitable, refining our understanding of its early potential for life. For More InformationSee [http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/maven-spectrometer-opens-window-to-red-planet-s-past/#.UgExWHB8wgM](http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/maven-spectrometer-opens-window-to-red-planet-s-past/#.UgExWHB8wgM) Related pages

MAVEN will use its Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) to study the upper atmosphere of Mars in unprecedented detail, helping scientists to determine what happened to the planet's ancient atmosphere - and its liquid water.Watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube channel.For complete transcript, click here. The philosophy of NASA's Mars Program has been "Follow the water," but "Where did the atmosphere go?" is still a lingering question. Although fluvial features such as dry riverbeds are visible on Mars, the atmosphere today is too thin to support liquid water, implying that Mars once had a thicker atmosphere that was lost to space. NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN Mission, or MAVEN, will test this hypothesis. As part of its remote sensing instrument package, MAVEN's Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) will look at isotopic hydrogen ratios in the upper atmosphere of Mars, helping scientists to determine just how much water once flowed across the Red Planet. For More InformationSee [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/maven/news/iuvs.html](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/maven/news/iuvs.html) Related pages

This animation depicts a transition from a "dry" Mars to a "wet" Mars as the camera flies over the surface. This animation depicts a quick transition from a "dry" Mars to a "wet" Mars as viewed from a distance. This animation depicts a quick transition from a "dry" Mars to a "wet" Mars as viewed from a low orbit. These animations show various conceptual animations depicting a transition from a "Wet" Mars that may have existed long ago to the "Dry" Mars we see today. Related pages