Taken by the Mars Hope probe’s EMUS instrument, the observations show dramatic variations in the concentrations of both atomic oxygen and carbon monoxide in the dayside atmosphere of Mars.

These observations confound scientists’ preconceptions of the distribution of ultraviolet light emitted from the upper atmosphere of Mars, showing vast structures at a range of wavelengths.

These observations, and our previously announced observations of Mars’ discrete aurora, are part of the first data release that went out on Oct 1st . From now onwards, we will be releasing new data sets every three months without embargo and free for use to the community.

The EMM team had expected to observe a relatively uniform emission from oxygen at 130.4 nm across the planet and yet here we are, faced with unpredicted variations of 50% or more in the brightness.

These monochromatic images shown here are “Quick Look” products and are generated as part of the EXI data processing pipeline. Their role is intended to offer an efficient way to assess whether the observations were made as planned. Before using these images for scientific analysis, corrections has to be made where possible for any impacts associated with the detector and optics, as well as those that occur as part of being in orbit around Mars such as cosmic rays. The images shown here were taken by EXI using its 635 nm filter during an orbit of Mars on May 5-6, 2021.

On July 18, 2021, the EXI camera system onboard the EMM mission obtained a set of multispectral images of a fully-illuminated hemisphere of Mars – which looks very similar to observations routinely carried out by weather satellites orbiting Earth. At the time the images were taken, the Hope spacecraft was at an altitude of about 20,260 kilometres above the surface; with the view centred at 11.0 °N latitude, -79.4 °E longitude, North is toward the top. In terms of the Martian season, it was late spring in the northern hemisphere.

The Emirates Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS) mapped the distribution of atomic oxygen in the planet’s upper atmosphere, showing a dense patch emerging from the nightside into the new day. All three instruments will continue to make observations over the next Martian year to fully map the planet across all times of day in every season.

The Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer (EMIRS) mapped the temperature of the atmosphere, tracking how it warmed up over the course of the morning.

This set of images was obtained by the Emirates Mars Mission from an altitude of 29,000 km on 24 May 2021, shortly after the commencement of regular science operations. All three instruments aboard the Hope Probe simultaneously observed the planet to provide a comprehensive snapshot centered on the Arabia Terra region of Mars in the morning. Three images from the Emirates Exploration Imager (EXI) are shown. The 635 nm filter emphasizes bright dust on the surface, while the 320 nm filter highlights the thin water ice clouds. The third is a colored image created from a composite of the red, green and blue EXI images.

These three images of atomic oxygen emission at a wavelength of 103.4 nm from the planet Mars were obtained by the Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer instrument on 22 April, 23 April, and 06 May 2021 respectively. The full set of data collected during these observations include far and extreme ultraviolet auroral emissions which have never been imaged before at Mars. The beacons of light that stand out against the dark nightside disk are highly structured discrete aurora, which traces out where energetic particles excite the atmosphere after being funneled down by a patchy network of crustal magnetic fields that originate from minerals on the surface of Mars.

An artist’s impression of how Mars’ discrete aurora might be viewed from different views including the surface of Mars when the emissions of light from the fleeting phenomenon extend into the visible spectrum as predicted by theory. New and striking observations of the discrete aurora from space have been made in the far and extreme ultraviolet bands that are invisible to the human eye. These provide an unprecedented perspective on these uniquely Martian aurorae, which are created when charged particles originating from the Sun's solar wind are funneled down into Mars' thin atmosphere by a patchy network of magnetic fields set up by huge deposits of magnetized minerals in the planetary crust.

This image was acquired by the EMUS instrument on 10 May 2021 and shows sunlight reflecting off the extended cloud of atomic hydrogen gas that surrounds the planet Mars, which is visible in the center only as a dark disk hidden deep inside the fog of gas.

The atomic hydrogen is formed by sunlight splitting water in the lower atmosphere, which then diffuses to the upper atmosphere and escapes to space. The hydrogen is thickest close to Mars, circling the planet with a bright ring of light, and becomes thinner and dimmer further away, with altitudes over 20,000 km observed in this image. The full range of the image is too large for the instrument to view all at once, so it performed four separate scans across the planet, which have been overlaid in the asterisk pattern shown here to form a single image, with areas in black showing where no data was taken. The EMM spacecraft is the only mission at Mars capable of making this type of image, thanks to its high-altitude orbit (20,000 km x 43,000 km).

This EMIRS image was acquired on March 5th, 2021 from an altitude of ~15,000 km. In the surface temperature image (bottom), centered on the Tharsis region of Mars, dawn can be seen towards the right side.

The low surface temperatures observed are due to the dusty nature of the martian surface. An elevated nighttime atmospheric temperature at 25 km altitude (top) is also observed over the Tharsis region.

The colored image from Emirates Exploration Imager (EXI) was generated using the camera’s red (635 nm) and ultraviolet (320 nm) filters. The red channel clearly shows the dark and light features of the Martian surface, while the water ice clouds stand out in the ultraviolet channel.

The image was acquired on April 22, 2021, at a solar longitude of ~35°, which is spring in the northern hemisphere. Of note is the northern polar cap, likely beginning its retreat as the temperatures rise, with distinct clouds encircling it.

Also visible along the terminator and eastern edge is a thin cloud layer as well as fairly continuous cloud cover to the west of Acidalia Planitia — the darker region at the upper center of the image. This composite image highlights the type of data that EXI will be routinely collecting now that the science phase of EMM’s mission has started.