During a recent flyby of the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft discovered a mysterious dust cloud and a strange aurora on the alien world.

In an unusual set of circumstances, dust accumulated over orbital altitudes of 93 miles to 190 miles above the surface of Mars. The composition of the dust along with its original source are still unknown but these phenomenon pose no danger to orbiting probes around Mars such as MAVEN.

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This mysterious cloud was detected by MAVEN's Langmuir Probe and Waves (LPW) instrument. Scientists are still trying to determine if this cloud is permanent or just a temporary phenomenon.

The instrument detected the cloud density was at its greatest in lower altitudes but the densest parts of the clouds can still be considered as relatively thin. The cloud wasn't even detected by other scientific instruments aboard MAVEN during its recent observations of the planet.

Scientists believe the likely sources of the mystery cloud could have be dust found in the atmosphere or even dust from Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos. Other theories suggest that the solar wind is also responsible for the dust uprising.

There is still no known geological or metrological process on Mars that can explain the occurrence of dust clouds in many regions of the planet.

Apart from this ominous dust cloud, an aurora was also recently observed on Mars. MAVEN's Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) detected the aurora and dubbed it the "Christmas Lights" during December 2014.

This bright ultraviolet aurora light show on the alien world spanned the entire northern hemisphere. It lasted for five days, which is also similar to the spectacular light show on Earth.

According to Arnaud Stiepen, IUVS team member of the University of Colorado, what's surprising about this Martian aurora is that it occurs deep within the atmosphere unlike Earth's; meaning the electrons in the Martian aurora must really be energized.

The Aurora borealis or the Northern Lights on Earth are caused by energy particles from electrons emitted by solar flares assaulting the magnetosphere, causing them to glow eerily in hues of many colors.

TagsNASA's MAVEN Spacecraft Spots Mystery Cloud and Ultraviolet Aurora on Mars, NASA, MAVEN, Mars, Aurora Borealis, Mars aurora dust cloud MAVEN NASA