{"id":819062,"date":"2026-07-23T16:43:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T16:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/819062\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T16:43:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T16:43:08","slug":"nasas-maven-illuminates-new-understanding-of-auroras-at-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/819062\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s MAVEN Illuminates New Understanding of Auroras at Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) mission scientists have uncovered a key puzzle piece in understanding certain types of auroras on Mars, finding that they form in a similar way to Earth-based auroras.
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Results published Thursday in Nature Communications<\/a> show the same mechanism that circulates and catapults charged particles into Earth\u2019s atmosphere is happening at Mars on much smaller scales because of differences in the two planets\u2019 magnetic fields.
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The MAVEN spacecraft, in orbit around Mars, experienced a loss of signal with ground stations on Earth on Dec. 6, 2025.\u00a0On June 3, NASA declared<\/a> the mission had concluded after finding the spacecraft to be unrecoverable. However, data from the mission is still being used to inform NASA science and future missions to Mars.
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When the Sun\u2019s magnetic field lines get close to Earth\u2019s magnetosphere, the large magnetic bubble protecting the planet, they can reconnect and inject energy and mass throughout Earth’s magnetosphere and magnetotail<\/a>, ultimately firing electrons back into the atmosphere to generate Earth\u2019s auroras. This process, called the Dungey cycle, drives electrical currents, accelerates charged particles that create auroras, and controls the circulation of plasma in Earth\u2019s magnetosphere and ionosphere.
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This new study shows that a miniature version of the Dungey cycle is happening over Mars\u2019 strong crustal magnetic fields, which gives scientists a better look into the physics of Martian auroras.
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\u201cWe knew that magnetic reconnection was happening at Mars but did not expect it to be like the Dungey cycle,\u201d said Shaosui Xu, lead author of the study and associate research physicist at the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley.
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Mars does not have a global magnetic field like Earth. Earth\u2019s magnetic field is created by our planet\u2019s churning core, while Mars has numerous miniature magnetospheres that arise from intensely magnetized crust scattered around the planet.\u00a0 These regions were formed around 4 billion years ago when lava cooled in the presence of Mars\u2019 ancient global magnetic field, which has since disappeared due to intense solar wind stripping the planet\u2019s atmosphere.<\/a>
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The MAVEN mission has observed highly localized auroras over these crustal fields, similar to Earth\u2019s auroras at the poles, but it wasn\u2019t until now that scientists could fully understand the physics of how they form. The study used several instruments aboard the MAVEN spacecraft to build up a picture of the Dungey-like behavior: the Magnetometer and Solar Wind Electron Analyzer instruments, which were used to determine the magnetic configuration and derive electrical currents, and the STATIC (Suprathermal and Thermal Ion Composition) instrument, which was used to measure plasma flows in the ionosphere.
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\u201cWe really pushed the limit of STATIC to get the data we needed,\u201d said Xu. \u201cIt was the final piece to the puzzle in understanding these localized auroras.\u201d
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The realization that a Dungey-like cycle was happening within these crustal magnetic fields answered the question of how the electrons were being energized to create the auroras. It also shows that a Dungey-like mechanism can happen on both large and small scales, giving more insight into where in the solar system this process could be taking place.
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\u201cThis is a remarkable result that changes how we think of Martian auroras and is another important step toward understanding why Mars and Earth have evolved so differently despite being governed by the same underlying physics.\u201d said Shannon Curry, MAVEN\u2019s principal investigator and a research scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder. \u201cI am incredibly proud of our team’s work on this discovery and excited to uncover new insights into the Red Planet and its evolution.\u201d
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By finding out more about this process, scientists also are gaining a better understanding of how the solar environment interacts with the Red Planet as a whole, which is essential for future robotic and crewed missions.
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\u201cI remember in graduate school discussing with my advisor how the cycling of crustal magnetic fields could work at Mars,\u201d said Xu. \u201cIt\u2019s incredible to be part of the team that found the answer to that question.\u201d
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The MAVEN mission is part of NASA\u2019s Mars Exploration Program portfolio. The mission\u2019s principal investigator is based at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, which also is responsible for managing science operations and public outreach and communications. NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the MAVEN mission. Lockheed Martin Space built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations. NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California provides navigation and Deep Space Network support.
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For more information on NASA\u2019s MAVEN mission, visit:
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https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/maven\/<\/a>
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Karen Fox \/ Alana Johnson
Headquarters, Washington
240-285-5155 \/ 202-672-4780
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov<\/a> \/ alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov<\/a>
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Lonnie Shekhtman
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
lonnie.shekhtman@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n

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