--- title: "Scientists Catch Mars Glowing Green" description: "During a recent probe, the European Space Agency's ExoMars probe spotted the Red Planet glowing green at night." date: "2023-11-18" modified: "2023-11-18" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/mars-glowing-green" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Mars" - "Space" tags: - "ESA" - "exomars" - "mars" - "the digest" --- # Scientists Catch Mars Glowing Green ![During a recent probe, the European Space Agency's ExoMars probe spotted the Red Planet glowing green at night.]() *\Image: Futurism\* ## Glow On During a recent probe, the European Space Agency's ExoMars probe spotted the Red Planet glowing green at night. In a [blog post](), the ESA said that the ExoMars' Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) mission was able to detect the green Martian glow, which scientists have known about for some time but have only ever seen in the planet's "daylight" twice. This phenomenon occurs, per a paper about the discovery [published in the journal *Nature Astronomy*](), as part of a process in which oxygen molecules split apart as the Sun shines on them, get blown to the dark side of the planet, and regroup back into a molecule, causing them to spit off electrons that create the green glow about 30 miles above the planet's surface. In [2012]() and [again in 2020](), European scientists were able to observe a "dayglow," or a similar green halo effect, during the Red Planet's daylight hours — but scientists seeing this "nightglow" in visible wavelengths when the Sun is not shining on Mars is a first. ## Green With Envy Know jointly as "airglow," these emissions are akin to the "auroras" we see on Earth when energized particles from the Sun hit our atmosphere — though the biggest difference between the airglow and auroras is that auroras "vary across space and time," while airglow is "more homogenous," the ESA blog explains. Interestingly enough, [Earth also has a green airglow effect]() that astronauts have spotted from above, and like on Mars, the halo is seen as a sort of light ring around the planet. https://twitter.com/WorldAndScience/status/1721043684362203410?s=20 While we're lucky enough to have [photos of Earth's airglow]() both in the daytime and at night, there hasn't been any such luck with Mars just yet — but ESA scientists are optimistic that by the time humans can land on Mars, they, too, will be able to see the green halo with their naked eyes. **More on Mars:** [*Scientists Find Evidence Mars Was Covered in Rivers*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()