Talk:Aurora

Mars?

Mars has no significant magnetic field, so where do the aurora come from? I bet Mercury (has a significant magnetic field, 1% of earth) has it though. Please site a source. Ely - Talk 06:28, 25 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The aurora is caused by the solar wind interacting (in our polar atmospheres) with the Earth's magnetosphere. We have pages on both those concepts. The solar wind is composed of charged particles from the Sun.

About Mars, En wiki says "Mars does not have a global magnetic field which guides charged particles entering the atmosphere. Mars has multiple umbrella-shaped magnetic fields mainly in the Southern Hemisphere, which are remnants of a global field that decayed billions of years ago.

In late December 2014, NASA's MAVEN spacecraft detected evidence of widespread auroras in Mars's Northern Hemisphere and descended to approximately 20–30° North latitude of Mars's equator. The particles causing the aurora penetrated into the Martian atmosphere, creating auroras below 100 km above the surface".

Macdonald-ross (talk) 07:40, 25 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Noted. Ely - Talk 16:03, 25 August 2021 (UTC)[reply]