ANOTHER WORLD
Eerie footage from surface of Mars shows ‘solar storm’ striking red planet after powerful ‘X-class’ flare eruption
Scientists are expecting to see more spectacular solar storms on Mars soon
THE same huge sunspot that caused the most spectacular display of solar energy in decades on Earth has triggered another record-breaking storm on Mars.
Mesmerizing video captured by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft shows an X12 solar flare — the strongest type — whipping up debris across the barren landscape of the Red Planet on May 20.
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Just days earlier, the same flare caused a geomagnetic storm on Earth that brought the aurora to Florida, Texas, and other southern areas that rarely witness the phenomenon.
The power of the storm was so intense that it caused what appeared to be white specks of "snow" in the black-and-white navigation images from cameras on Mars.
Earth’s magnetic field protects us by channeling particles to the poles and creating polar auroras, which we typically see as bright green and pink lights.
However, Mars regularly experiences widespread auroras when hit by solar particles because it lacks a magnetic field.
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May's solar storms were caused when the X12 flare unleashed a massive coronal mass ejection, which sent superhot solar plasma hurtling toward Mars at millions of miles per hour, according to Live Science.
Scientists jumped at the opportunity to study the video of the rare occurrence and the debris it stirred up.
Researchers using NASA's MAVEN orbiter, 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter, and Curiosity Mars rover said they captured the valuable data to help us better understand Mars and plan for future manned missions.
"We really got the full range of space weather at Mars from May 11-20, from large flares, CMEs, and an extreme solar energetic particle burst, and we've only begun to scratch the surface analyzing the data. The May 14th flare really did deliver as expected," Ed Thiemann, a heliophysicist at the University of Colorado, told Live Science.
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"The flare did significantly inflate and heat the Mars atmosphere as expected, and the resulting CME did indeed produce auroras," he added.
A FRONT-ROW SEAT TO THE STARS
MAVEN — short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution — had an awe-inspiring view of the spectacular energy over Mars.
Watch breathtaking moment European spacecraft flies over giant Mars crater revealing black sands in vast Martian desert
The craft's Solar Energetic Particle instrument measured the aurora-creating energy and helped scientists recreate the event.
"This was the largest solar energetic particle event that MAVEN has ever seen," said Christina Lee, MAVEN Space Weather Lead at UC Berkeley.
"There have been several solar events in past weeks, so we were seeing wave after wave of particles hitting Mars."
Another instrument, the Radiation Assessment Detector developed at Curiosity, picked up the most energetic particles reaching Mars’ surface.
RAD showed the incredible radiation generated by the particle storm — about 8,100 micrograys.
STRONGEST SOLAR STORM IN YEARS
If a person stood next to the rover, it would be like getting 30 chest X-rays at once.
This was the biggest surge detected in Curiosity’s 12 years on Mars.
Odyssey’s Star camera was briefly knocked offline by the energetic particles, but it still collected data and X-rays with its High-Energy Neutron Detector.
[The energy particles] are like a light drizzle ceaselessly raining down onto the surface, all the time.
Tamitha Skov
"The 'specks' and 'streaks' observed in the camera aboard Curiosity is not far from what astronauts see when their eyes are bombarded by radiation storm particles," Tamitha Skov, a retired researcher from the Aerospace Corporation and a space weather professor at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, told Space.com.
"In fact, astronauts aboard the ISS often describe seeing 'fireworks' when they close their eyes during radiation storms."
"This is because an energetic particle will deposit some energy when it passes right through the CCD sensor in a camera or the retina in the eye, causing a false signal," she explained.
Scientists say this level of radiation isn't deadly for humans, but future Mars visitors will need proper shielding.
SAFER GALACTIC TRAVEL
The data from the solar storm will also help scientists understand how to protect astronauts from solar storms.
"Cliffsides or lava tubes would provide additional shielding for an astronaut from such an event," Don Hassler, RAD's principal scientific investigator, said in a NASA press release.
"In Mars orbit or deep space, the dose rate would be significantly more," he added.
Mars facts
Here's what you need to know about the red planet...
- Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun
- It is named after the Roman god of war
- The landmass of Mars is very similar to Earth but due to the difference in gravity you could jump three times higher there than you can here
- Mars is mountainous and hosts the tallest mountain known in the Solar System called Olympus Mons, which is three times higher than Everest
- Mars is considered to be the second most habitable planet after Earth
- It takes the planet 687 Earth days to orbit the Sun
- The planet has a diameter of 4,212 miles, and has an average distance from Earth of 140 million miles
- Martian temperatures can vary wildly, reaching as high as 70F/20C or as low as -225F/-153C
Besides human safety, solar storms could affect growing food on Mars.
"Since growing plants requires sunlight, energy and lots of room, it will be difficult to grow enough food in lava tubes or caves, even if the colonists are able to supply enough artificial light to sustain their growth," Skov said.
"Unlike Earth, the atmosphere on Mars is so tenuous that energetic particles can penetrate all the way to the ground. This means radiation storms, of one form or another, are a continual problem there."
"They are like a light drizzle ceaselessly raining down onto the surface, all the time," she added.
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With the sunspot now facing Mars again, scientists are looking forward to learning more about this amazing solar event.
"This same sunspot group is still active and rotated towards Mars this week, and may provide more events to aid in our understanding of the evolution and loss of the Martian atmosphere," Thiemann said.