In this image, taken by astronauts aboard the ISS in 2011, a green band of oxygen glow is visible over Earth’s curve. On the surface, portions of northern Africa are visible, with evening lights shining along the Nile river and its delta.
ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has detected glowing green oxygen in Mars’ atmosphere—the first time that this emission has been seen around a planet other than Earth.
On Earth, glowing oxygen is produced during polar auroras when energetic electrons from interplanetary space hit the upper atmosphere. This oxygen-driven emission of light gives polar auroras their beautiful and characteristic green hue.
The aurora, however, is just one way...
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