Perseverance rover captures first visible aurora on Mars, a potential spectacle for future astronauts

NASA’s Perseverance rover has spotted the first aurora on Mars visible to the human eye, offering a glimpse of what future astronauts might one day enjoy under the Martian sky.

For the first time, an aurora on Mars has been detected in visible light, thanks to observations made by NASA’s Perseverance rover. The green glow, dimmed slightly by dust, appeared after a powerful solar storm swept across the planet in March 2024, according to findings published Wednesday in Science Advances.

Unlike previous auroras on Mars, which were only detectable in ultraviolet light, this one could potentially be seen by the naked eye—a promising development for future human explorers.

The event followed a solar flare and a coronal mass ejection, which sent a wave of charged plasma toward Mars. Scientists from the University of Oslo and other institutions had three days' notice to position the rover’s cameras, allowing them to capture the rare spectacle.

“This marks the first time we’ve had an aurora on Mars that could be visible to humans, not just instruments,” said Elise Wright Knutsen of the University of Oslo, lead author of the study. “It means astronauts on the surface could one day watch auroras just like we do on Earth.”

Researchers say that despite the dusty atmosphere dimming the aurora’s glow, more powerful solar events or clearer conditions could produce even brighter displays. The finding also demonstrates that space weather forecasting at Mars is now possible, opening the door to new research on how solar activity affects the red planet.

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