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Looking at a Martian Aurora Borealis
mike_1138 writes "According to new research, 'The Martian auroras differ from those on Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune...' I've seen the Borealis here on Earth, and they're beautiful. I can't imagine what they must look like in a Martian night."
Looking at Mars' Atmosphere there is substantially less atmospheric oxygen, nitrogen, and argon on the red planet.
Since, Earth's Aurora is caused by the magnectic excitation of ions in the atmosphere, namely the O2 and N2 -- I imagine the "Aurora Martiania" would be a lot less intense. Also, because there's a greater distance to Mars from the Sun, I would also think the intensity of the magnetic 'bursts' would be smaller (due to lambertian emission, i.e. equidirectional).
But, since "they've" detected *something*, it's reasonable to say there is an aurora present on Mars. I would wait on booking your MLT vacation until some hard evidence comes in...
and now back to the fallout shelter...
Can we just go there already? We need to start terraforming that place now. My great great great ... grandchildren need a place to live.