Empirically Determined Auroral Electron Events at Mars—MAVEN Observations

Shaosui Xu , David L. Mitchell , James P. Mcfadden , Nicholas M. Schneider , Zachariah Milby , Sonal Jain , Tristan Weber , David A. Brain , Gina A. Dibraccio , Jasper Halekas , Suranga Ruhunusiri , Christian Mazelle (1) , Robert J. Lillis , Ben Johnston

1 IRAP - Institut de recherche en astrophysique et planétologie

Discrete aurorae have been observed at magnetized planets such as Earth and Jupiter, triggered by accelerated electrons. Similar aurorae have also been observed at Mars with only localized strong crustal magnetisms. However, our understanding of this phenomenon at Mars is still limited. In particular, direct and quantitative comparisons of the auroral and its source electron events are lacking as these two types of observations are usually made at different times and/or locations. In this study, we establish empirical criteria to select electron events ("auroral electrons") that could trigger detectable auroral emissions with Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN measurements, thereby enabling a direct statistical comparison. We find auroral electrons share similar statistical characteristics to those previously reported for discrete auroral events. This study bridges the gap between electron observations and auroral detections and enables collaborations across different Mars missions, as well as comparative planetary studies of discrete aurora.

Keywords: aurora; Mars; auroral electrons; MAVEN

Domains: Sciences of the Universe [physics]

Shaosui Xu, David L. Mitchell, James P. Mcfadden, Nicholas M. Schneider, Zachariah Milby, et al.. Empirically Determined Auroral Electron Events at Mars—MAVEN Observations. Geophysical Research Letters, 2022, 49, ⟨10.1029/2022GL097757⟩. ⟨insu-03672041⟩