On the Red Planet, aurorae glow green because the charged particles collide with oxygen atoms high above Mars. They may be bright enough that astronauts on Mars could spot them with their naked eye. Here on Earth, it’s usually helpful to have a telescope or even a phone camera filter to really see the aurora.

Recently, new discoveries in the field of Mars exploration have garnered widespread public attention, particularly the dry riverbed photos sent back by the Curiosity rover. The patterns in the riverbeds bear a striking resemblance to the marks left by flowing rivers on Earth,

The Perseverance rover’s new findings set the stage for bringing Martian samples back to Earth to test whether microbes once inhabited the Red Planet