A Solar Event Left a ‘Void’ In Space That Stretched Mars’ Atmosphere by Thousands of Kilometers
Almost exactly a year ago to date something utterly wild happened, the Sun sent out a tremendous solar wind into our system. It was so powerful, when it came into contact with the Martian atmosphere and magnetosphere, it yanked them out into the cosmos stretching it to 3 times its usual size. However, it didn’t happen the way anyone might have expected.
Transcript
00:00 [Music]
00:03 Almost exactly a year ago to date, something utterly wild happened.
00:07 The Sun sent out a tremendous solar wind into our system.
00:10 It was so powerful when it came into contact with the Martian atmosphere and magnetosphere,
00:14 it yanked them out into the cosmos, stretching them to three times their usual size.
00:19 However, it didn't happen the way anyone might have expected.
00:22 It was a rare phenomenon that hasn't been recorded since 1999,
00:25 captured this time by the MAVEN spacecraft in orbit around Mars.
00:29 They say both the red planet's magnetosphere and ionosphere expanded by thousands of kilometers,
00:34 out into the vacuum of space.
00:36 With astronomers saying that when they saw the data, it was almost unbelievable.
00:40 Adding that it can now provide insights into not only the effects this has on Mars,
00:44 but how similar solar events can impact other planets.
00:47 They say this event was actually the convergence of two solar winds,
00:50 one weaker and one very strong one.
00:52 After the powerful wind passed Mars, it left what they are referring to as a void,
00:56 where the density of solar particles surrounding the planet dropped by a factor of 100.
01:00 Meaning the Martian atmosphere was allowed to fill that space,
01:03 not being pushed by a dramatic solar event,
01:05 but rather pulled out in the absence of those very particles.