Solar Wind and Mars Bow Shock

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    ID: 4824 Visualization

    MAVEN Observes Solar Particle Velocities and the Induced Magnetic Field

    May 25th, 2020
    (updated Aug. 25th, 2023)

    MAVEN orbits Mars and measures solar particle velocities and variations in the solar wind’s magnetic field. || The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since 2014, observing the planet’s upper atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind in order to better understand the climate history of Mars.In this visualization, a series of MAVEN’s orbits are shown from March 8-9, 2015. During these orbits, MAVEN’s particles and fields instruments observed the speed and direction of charged particles in the solar wind flowing past Mars – represented as yellow spikes pointing from the planet’s dayside toward its nightside. MAVEN’s magnetometers also recorded variations in the strength and direction of the solar wind’s magnetic field – represented as green spikes at an angle to the charged particle velocities.The solar wind has contributed to the erosion of the Martian atmosphere over time, which has gradually turned Mars from warm and wet to cold and dry. MAVEN is helping scientists to better understand the complex processes that have driven this transition, and which continue to affect the Martian climate today. ||

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  • 
    ID: 4825 Visualization

    MAVEN – Mars and Solar Wind Simulation

    May 25th, 2020
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    This simulation depicts the solar wind interacting with the Mars upper atmosphere, with MAVEN's orbit embedded. || The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since 2014, observing the planet’s upper atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind in order to better understand the climate history of Mars. The solar wind is a stream of electrically charged particles blowing from the Sun at approximately one million miles per hour.This visualization simulates charged particles (ions) in the Mars upper atmosphere interacting with the solar wind and escaping to space. Red and yellow particles represent high-velocity ions that escape the planet, while greens and blues represent low-velocity ions that remain bound to Mars. Time is frozen in the visualization, and a camera move reveals the structure of the system.On Mars’ dayside, the ions follow the contours of the solar wind bow shock; on its nightside they are drawn into a long tail, with a complex internal structure driven by electrical current systems. MAVEN’s elliptical orbit is embedded within the cloud of escaping ions. In this visualization, MAVEN orbits nearly above the Martian terminator – the boundary between the planet’s dayside and its nightside – though the orbit also drifts slowly around Mars.The solar wind has contributed to the erosion of the Martian atmosphere over time, which has gradually turned Mars from warm and wet to cold and dry. MAVEN is helping scientists to better understand the complex processes that have driven this transition, and which continue to affect the Martian climate today. ||

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  • 
    ID: 12986 Produced Video

    Mars Proton Aurora

    July 23rd, 2018
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    On Earth, the northern and southern lights occur when the solar wind (electrically charged particles from the Sun) follow our planet's geomagnetic field lines to the poles and collide with the upper atmosphere. Mars lacks a global magnetic field, so instead the solar wind piles up in front of Mars in a bow shock, which blocks charged particles from reaching the bulk of the atmosphere. However, in a process first observed by the MAVEN mission, some solar wind protons can slip past the bow shock by first bonding with electrons from the Mars upper atmosphere to form hydrogen atoms. Because these hydrogen atoms are electrically neutral, they can pass through the bow shock and go on to create an ultraviolet proton aurora on the dayside of Mars.Learn more about MAVEN's observation of a proton aurora at Mars. ||

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  • 
    ID: 20252 Animation

    Phobos Electric Charging

    Oct. 18th, 2017
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    The interaction of the solar wind with the Martian moon Phobos creates a complex electrical environment that could impact future exploration. Complete transcript available.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Music provided by Killer Tracks: "Innovations" by Pascal Lengagne || Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Both are small, airless bodies with irregular shapes. Because they lack protective atmospheres and magnetospheres, Phobos and Deimos are directly exposed to the solar wind for part of their orbits. The solar wind is a stream of electrically charged particles constantly blowing off the surface of the sun at about a million miles per hour; as it collides with the moons, it is thought to create complex electrical environments.Now, a simulation by William Farrell of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center has revealed the details of Phobos's interaction with the solar wind. The simulation predicts that static electric charging occurs on the night side of Phobos and within its shadowed craters. Phobos is frequently cited as a target for future exploration, but according to the study, any robots or humans roving around the night side could build up static electric charge that might affect sensitive equipment. Mission planners will have to face this challenge as they set their sights on the moons of Mars.Learn more about the finding from NASA or read the science paper by Farrell et al. ||

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  • 
    ID: 4370 Visualization

    Solar Wind Strips the Martian Atmosphere

    Nov. 5th, 2015
    (updated Aug. 25th, 2023)

    Scientists have long suspected the solar wind of stripping the Martian upper atmosphere into space, turning Mars from a blue world to a red one. Now, NASA's MAVEN orbiter is observing this process in action, providing significant data on solar wind erosion at Mars.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.This video is also available on our YouTube channel. || Today, Mars is a global desert with an atmosphere far too thin to support bodies of flowing water, but evidence shows that Mars was considerably wetter in the ancient past. Scientists think that climate change on Mars was caused by the loss of an early, thick atmosphere, and NASA’s MAVEN mission is investigating whether it was driven into space.One of the prime suspects is the solar wind, a stream of electrically charged particles continuously blowing outward from the Sun. Unlike Earth, Mars lacks a global magnetic field to deflect the incoming solar wind. Instead, charged particles from the Sun crash into the Mars upper atmosphere, and can accelerate Martian ions into space. Now, MAVEN has observed this process in action – by measuring the velocity of ions escaping from Mars.The movies on this page compare simulations of ion escape with MAVEN’s observations of oxygen ion flux. The results closely fit the expected pattern, with the most energetic ions (in red) accelerated in a plume above Mars, while the majority of escaping ions (green) are lost along the “tail” region in the wake of the solar wind. MAVEN’s observations confirm that the solar wind is a significant contributor to atmosphere loss on Mars, and they bring scientists closer to solving the mystery of the ancient Martian climate. Read the full press release about this finding.Watch the November 2015 MAVEN Science Update. ||

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  • 
    ID: 11992 Produced Video

    Mapping Mars' Upper Atmosphere

    Sept. 2nd, 2015
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Principal Investigator Bruce Jakosky talks about MAVEN’s science observations at Mars.Watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube channel.For complete transcript, click here. || High above the thin Martian skies, NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft is carrying out a mission: determine how Mars lost its early atmosphere, and with it, its water. While previous Mars orbiters have peered down at the planet’s surface, MAVEN is spending part of its time gazing at the stars, looking for subtle changes in their color as they dip through the limb of Mars and set below the horizon. Such stellar occultations reveal what the atmosphere is made of, and how its composition varies with altitude. MAVEN’s observations are providing the most detailed picture of the Mars upper atmosphere to date, helping scientists understand how Mars turned from a warm and wet planet in its youth, into the forbidding desert that we see today. ||

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  • 
    ID: 11603 Produced Video

    Investigating the Martian Atmosphere

    Sept. 17th, 2014
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    The Martian surface bears ample evidence of flowing water in its youth, from crater lakes and riverbeds to minerals that only form in water. But today Mars is cold and dry, and scientists think that the loss of Mars' water may have been caused by the loss of its early atmosphere. NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission, or MAVEN, will be the first spacecraft devoted to studying the Red Planet's upper atmosphere, in an effort to understand how the Martian climate has changed over time. ||

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  • 
    ID: 20201 Animation

    Mars Transition

    Nov. 13th, 2013
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Billions of years ago when the Red Planet was young, it appears to have had a thick atmosphere that was warm enough to support oceans of liquid water – a critical ingredient for life. The animation shows how the surface of Mars might have appeared during this ancient clement period, beginning with a flyover of a Martian lake. The artist's concept is based on evidence that Mars was once very different. Rapidly moving clouds suggest the passage of time, and the shift from a warm and wet to a cold and dry climate is shown as the animation progresses. The lakes dry up, while the atmosphere gradually transitions from Earthlike blue skies to the dusty pink and tan hues seen on Mars today. ||

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