Understanding How Martian Auroras Are Made

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In this illustration, yellow charged particles from the Sun strip off rainbow-colored charged particles from Mars (in the foreground). The Martian particles stream away from the planet, toward the viewer and off to the right of the image. The Sun illuminates the far side of Mars.

NASA

This July 23, 2026, illustration depicts charged particles from a solar storm stripping away charged particles of Mars’ atmosphere, one of the processes of Martian atmosphere loss studied by NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) mission. NASA MAVEN mission scientists have found that certain types of auroras on Mars form in a similar way to Earth-based auroras.