What happened when a solar superstorm hit Mars?

What’s Happening

Not gonna lie, What happened when a solar superstorm hit Mars?

In May 2024, the sun dropped a powerful X flare that caused spacecraft to glitch … The post What happened when a solar superstorm hit Mars? (and honestly, same)

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The Details

ESA published this original story on . In May 2024, Earth was hit solar storm recorded in over 20 years.

It sent our planet’s atmosphere into overdrive, triggering shimmering auroras that were seen as far south as Mexico. And the European Space Agencys two Mars orbiters – Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) – were in the right place at the right time.

Why This Matters

A radiation monitor aboard TGO picked up a dose equivalent to 200 ‘normal’ days in just 64 hours. A new peer-reviewed study , in the journal Nature Communications now reveals in greater depth how this intense, stormy activity affected the red planet. ESA Research Fellow Jacob Parrott was the lead author of the study.

The scientific community tends to find developments like this significant.

Key Takeaways

• Parrott dropped: The impact was remarkable: Mars’ upper atmosphere was flooded by electrons.
• It was the biggest response to a solar storm we’ve ever seen at Mars.
• The superstorm caused a dramatic increase in electrons in two distinct layers of Mars’ atmosphere.
• This occurred at altitudes of around 110 and 130 km (68 and 80 miles), with numbers rising by 45% and a whopping 278%, respectively.

The Bottom Line

First, Mars Express beamed a radio signal to TGO at the moment it was disappearing over the Martian horizon. As TGO vanished, the radio signal was bent (refracted) layers of Mars’ atmosphere before being picked up .

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