Green glow in the martian night – artist’s impression

This image shows an artist’s impression of what nightglow might look like to an astronaut in the polar winter regions of Mars at night. The green glow occurs when oxygen atoms high up in the atmosphere combine to form oxygen molecules.

This simulated view was created using a real but darkened image of the martian surface from the panoramic camera of NASA’s Opportunity rover, and a synthetic nightglow corresponding to the real colour of the oxygen emission.

More information about the publication on Nature Astronomy on this web story.