On Clear Martian Nights
Long, snake-like ribbons of light may streak through the sky for thousands of miles.
According To New Observations
From the United Arab Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) — It represents a strange new type of aurora never seen before on any planet.
Auroras — Also Known On Earth
As the northern lights — occur when charged particles from solar wind collide with molecules in a planet's atmosphere.
Several Different Types
Of auroras have been detected on Mars, including planet-wide "diffuse auroras,"
Also "Discrete Auroras,"
Which only glow above certain spots of Martian crust thought to contain magnetized minerals.
This New Type Of Aurora
Which EMM researchers dubbed a "sinuous discrete aurora" seems to be a strange mishmash of the others.
Visible Only Above Certain Tracts
Of the Martian landscape, the new type of aurora appeared during a recent solar storm when charged electrons swept over the Red Planet's thin atmosphere.