NASA’s Curiosity rover shared spectacular images showing Mars completely illuminated by a solar flare in the middle of an epic solar storm.
In this video, you can see how the red planet lights up completely for an instant, in a phenomenon that occurred thanks to the period of high activity of the star known as ‘Solar Maximum’.
Solar Maximum began at the beginning of the year. According to the specialized site, LiveScience, this is a regular period in the life of the Sun that occurs when its magnetic field is completely reversed.
This phenomenon occurs approximately every 11 years and is characterized by a significant increase in solar activity, with currents of solar radiation as its main manifestations.
It was on May 20 that the strongest solar flare of this cycle was recorded: The X12 flare. This eruption sent X-rays and gamma rays toward Mars, followed by two particles ejected from the coronal mass.
According to NASA, this event caused a dose of radiation equivalent to 30 chest x-rays to be emitted for approximately 30 minutes, which means the largest amount of radiation detected by the rover. Curiosity since its landing 12 years ago.
These data will be very useful for the US government agency responsible for the civil space program, as they will be able to study the radiation levels to which astronauts will be exposed on future missions.
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