NASA images show unprecedented ultraviolet view of Mars

New images from NASA's MAVEN spacecraft have given us an unprecedentedview of the ultraviolet glow of the Martian atmosphere.

"MAVEN obtained hundreds of such images in recent months, giving some of the best high-resolution ultraviolet coverage of Mars ever obtained," said Nick Schneider of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of ColoradoBoulder,in a NASA release.

The picturesshow the Red Planet's 'nightglow.'

Nightside images of the planet's southern hemisphere during spring capture its"nightglow," acommon planetary phenomenon whereemissions from nitric oxidecausethe sky toglow even in the absence of external light.

Mars' nightglowisultraviolet, which means the lightexists outside the spectrum visible to thehuman eye, soNASA has rendered it infalse coloursto show what we would see with ultraviolet-sensitive eyes. Here, white means high values of nitric oxide emissions,black means low and green means medium.

High winds are affecting conditions on Mars.

Dayside images of spring on Mars show high concentrations of atmospheric ozone in the southern hemisphere, rendered here in bright magenta.

Ozone accumulates on the planet's south pole during Mars' winter and disappears when water vapour from the rest of the planet spreads over the poles.The fact that it's still present in the spring shows thatglobal winds are inhibiting the vapour's spread, NASA says.

Mars has cloudy afternoons over its volcanoes.

Here you can see the rapid afternoon cloud formation as the planet rotates over seven hours on July 9-10.

"MAVEN'selliptical orbit is just right," said Justin Deighan,of the University of Colorado Boulder,who led the observations."It rises high enough to take a global picture, but still orbits fast enough to get multiple views as Mars rotates over the course of a day."

The dark spotnear the top of the planet isOlympusMons, the tallest volcano on Mars.

MAVEN is the 1st mission dedicated to studyingMars'upper atmosphere.

The images were taken using the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph aboard the MAVEN spacecraft.

Shown below in a NASA artistic rendition,the spacecraft launched in 2013 to gather data on Mars' atmosphere and weather patterns to give"insight into the history of Mars' atmosphere and climate, liquid water, and planetary habitability."