Mars Nightglow Animation from Mars Maven Orbiter
Posted on August 7, 2020
NASA created this video showing the Mars' nightside atmosphere glowing and pulsating. The animation uses data collected by the Mars MAVEN spacecraft.
NASA says in a release that months of data were averaged to identify the patterns. The pulsations seen in the video are caused by downwards winds which enhance the chemical reaction creating nitric oxide which causes the "nightglow" effect.
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