The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission is a NASA orbiter at Mars and the best observer of atmospheric escape anywhere in the solar system. MAVEN is the only spacecraft from any agency to reveal the history of Mars’ atmosphere and help protect the future of Earth’s
Media contacts:
Willow Reed, MAVEN Communications Lead, LASP/CU Boulder,
willow.reed@lasp.colorado.edu
Lonnie Shekhtam, Communications Lead (Acting), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
lonnie.shekhtam@nasa.gov
AGU Presentations:
The following are listed in chronological order, and all times are CST.
Monday, 15 December 8:30-12:00
What can 10 years of MAVEN data reveal about electron acceleration in the Martian magnetotail?
Murti Nauth, University of California Berkeley
Interesting phenomena occur when the Sun’s magnetic field interacts with Mars’ atmosphere, including the acceleration of electrons, which can cause aurora. This process often happens in the region “behind” the planet, called the magnetotail, where the Sun’s magnetic field drapes around Mars and forms a comet-like tail in this shadowed region. This talk will highlight how electrons are accelerated in this region and the importance of having a 10-year dataset to understand processes that occur in this region.
Monday, 15 December 16:57-17:09
The Solar Energetic Particle Detector on MAVEN: Bonus Science at Mars
Ali Rahmati, University of California Berkeley
The Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) instrument onboard MAVEN is primarily designed to measure energetic electrons and protons, but it has also proven to be a versatile tool for “bonus science” beyond its intended scope. The focus of this research is on reinterpreting several sources of typically discarded “noise” within the SEP data to gain valuable scientific observations, allowing for more scientific understanding of the Red Planet.
Tuesday, 16 December 17:20-17:33
Piercing the Martian Veil: A Statistical Study of Interplanetary Magnetic Field Reach through Ionospheric Pressure Balance (Invited)
Skylar Shaver, West Virginia University
When the solar wind, a stream of charged particles from the Sun, hits a planet without a strong magnetic field, like Mars, it can directly interact with the planet’s electrically charged upper atmosphere, known as the ionosphere. This interaction can change how energy and particles move around the planet. This study examines how deeply the Sun’s magnetic field can reach surprisingly far into the Martian atmosphere.
Wednesday, 17 December 8:30-12:00
Variations in Mars’ ‘Sailboat’ Crustal Field Morphology
Lucia Cogswell, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder
In the southern hemisphere of Mars, the “Sailboat” region contains the strongest localized areas of crustal magnetic fields. This region also hosts many interesting plasma processes, including aurora. While there are many global maps of these crustal fields on the Martian surface, detailed maps of individual fields are rare. This work explores how various drivers impact the morphology of the Sailboat region using ten years of Magnetometer (MAG) data from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission.
Thursday, 18 December 9:00-TIME
Response of Thermosphere Densities at Mars During the 14 May 2024 Solar Flare Event from MAVEN NGIMS In-Situ Observations
Alexander Cramer, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder
In May 2024, elevated solar activity led to dramatic effects in the upper atmosphere of Mars, including a 200% increase in carbon dioxide. This presentation explores underlying processes that could explain this atmospheric response, with the goal of better understanding the impact of these events on the evolution of the Red Planet.