Light Show on Mars

Adam Elenbaas
Mars.jpg

On our planet, aurorae are found in the polar regions, shining and dancing at the northern and southern lights. But on the planet Mars scientists have discovered similar auroraes shining near magnetic fields generated by crustral rocks on the planet's surface.

While the discovery of Martian auroraes were first made in 2004, up until now a full visual map of the auroraes light display hasn't existed. For more on the story and to see images of the auroraes, click here. 

Image: "Fiercely Red" by Athena's Pix on Flickr courtesy of Creative commons licensing.

Comments

Amazing

Submitted by ChibiOne on Fri, 12/05/2008 - 14:23.

Man. Images and facts such as these are a true testament to the beauty, wonder, and creative power of this humble home we have named Universe.

 

 

"You must *be* the change you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi

Sorry to say that's not

Submitted by Entropic Blur on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 20:35.

Sorry to say that's not actually a picture of the Martian aurora - that's an artists' conception. It's a huge problem with science reporting. (The caption doesn't state the proper source until you click on another link!)

A real picture can be found here

http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1599.html

though I'm sad to say it's not as impressive. (Another problem with using artist's conceptions - everyone just gets disappointed when they see the real thing.)

 It's amazing that Mars has this activity to make pockets of magnetic fields (unlike the larger field we have). This is a very cool discovery.

Well, that is a bit disappointing.

Submitted by ChibiOne on Sun, 12/07/2008 - 20:58.

The other picture isn't nearly as cool...but it is a lot more informative (especially to persons who understand what the heck it all means.  I can start to get a vague picture, but...that's a lotta data in one image)!

And, hey, it could still look something like that. ^_^

Really, its as amazing (and maybe moreso) that people can look at data and maps so abstract, peer into the meaning of the mathematics, and come up with 'artist depictions' such as this to illustrate that meaning.

We may have our problems...but people can be pretty dern cool.

 

"You must *be* the change you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi

Impressive, in my opinion,

Submitted by Adam Elenbaas on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 15:23.
Impressive, in my opinion, is a state of being, you know? I think it's fascinating to imagine what it looks like. The bottom line is that it looks cooler than a photo or a drawing or an imagined idea. It's just downright cool!!! "It's a huge problem with science reporting." I think this would be true if people were trying to trick others into believing that artistic interpretation was more accurate, physically, than a photograph, and they weren't being honest in their presentation. Otherwise, why is it a huge problem? I think artistic interpretation and photographs and even beholding things themselves are interpretations, and that's whats so beautiful about being alive!! I want more subjectivity and heart in reporting. MORE I SAY MORE! (Stamps foot) hehe, jk I like the real picture too. I think they're both neat. Adam Elenbaas

what most intrigues me is...

Submitted by vivifidal on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 21:25.
Aurora means magnetosphere, yet in decline since its a rarer event than on Earth. Sortof very Bradbury Martian Chronicles, but we're too late to meet the residents.