See the First Visible Auroras Captured on Mars, Glowing a Hazy Green Above the Planet Scientists directed NASA’s Perseverance rover to take an image of the Martian sky after a solar storm in hopes that an aurora would show up Lillian Ali - Staff Contributor May 16, 2025 1:19 p.m. The first image in visible light of green auroras on Mars (left), compared to the night sky of Mars without auroras. NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU / MSSS / SSI On March 18, 2024, NASA’s Perseverance rover, which usually examines rocks on Mars’ surface, tilted its camera upward. The planet’s entire sky glowed a soft green, and the rover snapped an image of the moment—capturing the first visually observed aurora on Mars. The photograph is the result of several years of planning, waiting and retrying to grab this shot. Researchers led by Elise Wright Knutsen, an atmospheric physicist at the University of Oslo, waited for the right conditions and commanded Perseverance to look up at exactly the right time. They reported their feat in a study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances. “It took three unsuccessful attempts before we got it right, but when we did, it appeared exactly as we imagined it; as a diffuse green haze, uniform in all directions,” Knutsen tells Gizmodo’s Passant Rabie.Auroras can occur following a solar storm, when the sun suddenly blasts charged particles, energy and magnetic fields into the solar system. These particles can collide with gases in a planet’s atmosphere, energizing them and causing their atoms to emit light in different colors. On Earth, the charged particles from the sun are guided to the poles by the magnetic field, leading to the northern and southern lights. Mars does not have a global magnetic field, “so the charged particles bombarded all of Mars at the same time, which leads to this planet-wide aurora,” Knutsen tells Reuters’ Will Dunham. The Martian atmosphere is much thinner than Earth’s, and it doesn’t have as many gas atoms that could light up in an aurora. But Mars has atomic oxygen, and oxygen on Earth causes a green glow. So, astronomers thought its sky would appear green after a solar storm, although the hue would be fainter and harder to capture than auroras on Earth. Historically, Mars’ auroras have only been observed by orbiting spacecraft in ultraviolet light, which is not visible to the naked eye. An aurora seen from Abisko, Sweden, glows green due to emissions from atmospheric oxygen. Pavel.shyshkouski via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0 Perseverance’s photo surprised some scientists, who had anticipated an image of an aurora to come from a spacecraft instead. “I didn’t really expect it to be seen by one of the rovers,” planetary astronomer James O’Donoghue of the University of Reading in England, who was not involved in the study, tells the New York Times’ Perseverance’s mission is to sample rocks that may contain evidence of ancient microbial life, like “Cheyava Falls,” a rock discovered last year that scientists say bears a potential biosignature. To observe an aurora, researchers applied the rover’s rock-studying instruments to the sky. One of its cameras, Mastcam-Z, could spot green lights. An instrument called SuperCam would chemically analyze whatever was emitting that green light, potentially identifying an aurora. To get their photo, researchers had to accurately forecast the aurora by observing the sun, studying the Martian atmosphere and perfectly timing Perseverance’s movements. After several months, during a period of solar hyperactivity, Knutsen’s team found exactly the right moment. “It was so satisfying,” Knutsen tells the New York Times. NASA's Perseverance rover took this "selfie" on July 23, 2024, with a rock nicknamed "Cheyava Falls." NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS Perseverance’s instruments determined the aurora emitted light with a wavelength of 557.7 nanometers—a green glow that’s visible to the human eye—which told astronomers the source was oxygen. Data from NASA’s orbiting MAVEN mission confirmed the light came from an aurora caused by solar energetic particles. Capturing an aurora on Mars opens new methods of studying the planet’s atmosphere and weather. It also shows how scientists can continue to track solar activity, which is especially relevant as a solar flare caused radio blackouts internationally this week. For now, though, Knutsen’s team gets to celebrate capturing the first visible Martian aurora. She tells the New York Times about being one of the first people to see “a black horizon and a softly glowing green sky” on Mars, saying, “I cried a little bit.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Lena Dunham–following the success of her 2012 comedy-drama series Girls–is my Roman Empire. Everyone knows the story: the published essays dissecting the sudden end of her long-term relationship with producer Jack Antonoff; the widespread criticisms of Girls for its lack of diversity; the poorly received comments about abortion. We witnessed the public turn on Dunham, branding her one of the most controversial writers of her time. But what was she feeling during that wave of backlash?  On July 10, Dunham and her husband, Luis Felber, will offer a loose interpretation of what life was like when they first met in 2021. If it’s anything like her past work, the series will be packed with comedy, emotional honesty and sharp introspection. As Dunham put it in a Variety interview about meeting Felber: “When I met my husband, I was dazzled by just how much baggage two people could bring to the table.” The highly anticipated series, Too Much, co-written by Dunham and Felber, premieres on Netflix on July 10.  “Co-created by Dunham and Luis Ferber, Too Much centers on Jessica (Meg Stalter) a New York workaholic in her mid-thirties, reeling from a broken relationship that she thought would last forever and slowly isolating everyone she knows. When every block in New York tells a story of her own bad behaviour, the only solution is to take a job in London, where she plans to live a life of solitude like a Bronte sister. But when she meets Felix (Will Sharpe) – a walking series of red flags – she finds that their unusual connection is impossible to ignore, even as it creates more problems than it solves. Now they have to ask themselves: do Americans and Brits actually speak the same language?” Read more at Deadline A period romance about two young artists that fall in love in Paris just before becoming recognized as cultural icons– yes, please; plus, the Bill Pohlad directed project, Miles and Juliette, will be produced by none other than Mick Jagger– double yes!  Just in time for the recent wave of buzz surrounding new movies during the Cannes Film Festival, Damson Idris, who is currently filming opposite Brad Pitt in Paramount’s upcoming fantasy film Children of Blood and Bone, has been set to play Miles Davis, alongside Anamaria Vartolomei as Juliette Gréco in Pohlad’s latest project.  “According to the project’s description, Miles & Juliette follows ‘22-year-old Miles Davis (Idris) on a transformative trip to Paris in 1949, where he falls into a passionate romance with Juliette Gréco (Vartolomei), the French singer, actress, and Left Bank icon. What begins as an intimate affair blossoms into a profound connection between two young artists — just before they became cultural legends.’” Read more at The Hollywood Reporter On Sunday, Sony Pictures Television was able to secure global distribution rights to Jennifer Ames and Steve Turner’s relationship comedy series, The Miniature Wife.  The series features a star-studded cast of regulars and recurring characters, with Elizabeth Banks and Emmy-winner Matthew Macfadyen in the leading roles. You’re probably thinking: What do Ames and Turner mean by the miniature wife? The Media Res produced comedy series is actually based off of author Manuel Gonzalez’s short story of the same name about a man who accidentally shrinks his wife.  Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! “The relationship comedy series explores the shifting power dynamics between spouses as a technological mishap triggers the ultimate marital crisis, pitting them against each other in a battle for dominance. It will air on Peacock in the U.S.”  Read more at Variety Tuesday marked the start of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. Long-awaited projects from Wes Anderson and Ari Aster are set to premiere as well as six female directed films in the Official Competition.  Last year, Sean Baker snagged the Palme d’Or (Golden Palm), which is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition, for Anora– which later won the Academy Award for Best Picture on March 2. Who will win this year’s Palm d’Or, and will the films featured at Cannes be an early indicator for the 2026 awards season like last year? We’ll have to see, but for now, even if you can’t attend the festival, keep a close eye on the daily happenings in Cannes over the next two weeks.  “Pundits complained last year’s Cannes was a light affair, but that had to do with the bottleneck created by the strikes, for one. Many auteurs return to the Croisette this year to make for a highly anticipated festival.” Read more at IndieWire The film that I’m the most excited to hear about following its premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival is by far Ethan Coen’s upcoming dark comedy, Honey Don’t! The film follows Margaret Qualley as Honey O’Donahue, a small-town private investigator, who looks into strange deaths tied to a mysterious church. Who’s the priest of that deadly church? Captain America, of course!  Though it’s not in competition, the film will premiere in Cannes on the final day of the festival, as part of the midnight screenings. Though I’ll have to wait until Aug. 22 to see the dark comedy in theaters, I have a feeling there will be a lot of buzz surrounding the film following its premiere.  “Once again starring Margaret Qualley, this time as a lesbian private investigator on the trail of a cultist played by former Captain America Chris Evans, Ethan Coen’s latest, co-written alongside longtime collaborator and wife Tricia Cooke, looks to be a dark comedy through and through, firmly of a piece with Drive-Away Dolls.”  Read more at Empire Watch the trailer of HONEY, DON’T! below: