On February 24, NASA published six articles on the results of research carried out by the InSight lander in scientific journals Nature Geoscience and Nature Communications.
Among the results, the one that seems most important in the context of InSight’s mission on the Martian surface is the fact that the researchers were able to confirm that the Red Planet was active from the seismological point of view. However, another discovery could have stolen the spotlight for this result, and it does not belong to the field of geophysics.
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The InSight team dealing with the climatological field has indeed confirmed the observation ofstrange lights in the night sky of the planet. The sightings were reportedly made possible by the lander’s night-time imaging capabilities.
What causes the lights
Scientists believe the phenomenon of night lights, which has been dubbed “airglow”, is caused by photochemical reactions in the atmosphere. According to Vice, this mysterious event has long been predicted to take place on the planet Mars, but this is the first time that we have received confirmation.
It was the presence of meteorological instruments with great sensitivity on the lander that would have made this discovery possible.
What about dust vortices?
Dust devils are another Martian phenomenon of interest to scientists. There is however a certain mystery hanging over these vortexes. According to NASA researchers, they have been able to gather ample evidence indicating their existence near the InSight landing site. However, none of the observations made by the latter reveal their presence.
Don Banfield of Cornell University, who heads the meteorology team at InSight, said they were certainly able to capture images of this phenomenon. However, you cannot see swirls on any of the images taken. Apparently, these do not appear to be opaque or are not opaque enough to be seen.
To be able to observe the planet Mars from its surface, scientists have always used landers and rovers. We can say that we still know very little about this planet close to ours. The best way to speed up research would obviously be to send astronauts there directly.
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