Written by Kanav Kapoor, a grade 6 student.

Recently, a distinct green glow has been spotted around Mars ( also known as the red planet ). This glow is due to the emission of light at a certain wavelength from the oxygen atoms present in Mars’ atmosphere. Scientists have observed a faint green light from the earth’s atmosphere, but this is the first time that green light is being emitted from another planet in this universe.

The green light emitted by Mars’ atmosphere is darker in comparison to the light emitted by the earth’s atmosphere. This green glow emitted from Mars’ atmosphere was first noticed by a  European spacecraft that is orbiting it currently.

It was one of the brightest emissions seen on Earth from the night sky. This particular wavelength of light has never been seen around another planet.

As per the New York Post, Mars has oxygen in its atmosphere.  When this oxygen comes in contact with sunlight, oxygen atoms get “charged up”, and when they “relax”, they release a  pale shade of green. This is the scientific reason behind this distinct green glow.

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