<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div>What can I say, but . . .</div><div><br></div><div>“Won’t You Be My Neighbor”</div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AEou-qWBqA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AEou-qWBqA</a></div><div><br></div><div>Courtesy. of NBC News at:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/ultraviolet-glow-auroras-mars-spotted-uae-orbiter-rcna1356">https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/ultraviolet-glow-auroras-mars-spotted-uae-orbiter-rcna1356</a></div><div><br></div><div>—————————————————</div><div><br></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 24pt; font-family: "Arial Narrow", sans-serif;">In an ultraviolet glow, auroras on Mars spotted by UAE orbiter<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;">Auroras on Mars are different from those on Earth because the red planet is thought to have lost its global magnetic field billions of years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">A spacecraft around Mars has captured the clearest views yet of alien auroras on the red planet. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);">The <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/mars-set-visits-uae-china-u-s-spacecraft-n1257126" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(48, 97, 255); text-decoration: none;">United Arab Emirates' Hope probe</span></a>, which arrived at Mars in early February, spotted the scattered glow of auroras in the Martian night sky. The stunning observations could help scientists better understand the atmosphere of Mars and how auroras on the red planet differ from similar light shows that are visible on Earth.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Georgia, serif; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/new-aurora-researchers-say-dunes-aren-t-usual-lights-sky-n1126171" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(48, 97, 255); text-decoration: none;">Auroras</span></a> occur when charged particles from space interact with atoms in the atmosphere, energizing them and causing them to glow. On Earth, this plays out as the northern and southern lights. When high-energy particles from the sun hit the planet's magnetic field, they energize atoms in the upper atmosphere to create spectacular displays of green, purple, red and blue lights.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">But on Mars, auroras are different because the red planet is thought to have lost its global magnetic field billions of years ago, in a mysterious process that caused Mars' once-thick atmosphere to be slowly stripped away. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">"What we see instead are magnetic fields that are kind of unique to Mars," said Justin Deighan, a planetary scientist at the University of Colorado and deputy science lead for the Hope orbiter's mission. "They originate from minerals in the crust of Mars that formed during the early solar system, back when we think Mars had a global magnetic field like Earth."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Remnants of Mars' magnetic field are essentially locked into these minerals, which are scattered around the planet, Deighan added. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">"Because of that, charged particles don't get funneled toward the north and south poles, like where we typically see auroras on Earth," he said. "On Mars, they're sort of all over the place."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">These types of atmospheric light shows, localized over specific magnetic zones, are known as discrete auroras.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Scientists are keen to study auroras on Mars because they not only reveal properties of the planet's atmosphere but can solve other mysteries of the solar system.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><br></div>—————————————————<br><br><div dir="ltr"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">http://www.MoscowCares.net</span></div><div><br></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><br></div><div>“A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met.”</div><div>- Roy E. Stolworthy</div><div></div></div></div></body></html>