We present a comprehensive study of the nightside aurora phenomenon on Mars, utilizing observations from EMUS onboard EMM. The oxygen emission at 130.4 nm is by far the brightest FUV auroral emission line observed at Mars. Our statistical analysis reveals geographic, solar zenith angle, local time, and seasonal dependencies of auroral occurrence. Higher occurrence of aurora is observed in regions of open magnetic topology, where crustal magnetic fields are either very weak or both strong and vertical. Aurora occurs more frequently closer to the terminator and is more likely on the dusk side than on the dawn side of the night hemisphere. A pronounced auroral feature appears close to midnight local times in the southern hemisphere, consistent with the spot of energetic electron fluxes previously identified in the MGS data. This auroral spot is more frequent after midnight than before. Additionally, some regions on Mars are "aurora voids" where essentially no aurora occurs. Aurora exhibits a seasonal dependence, with a major enhancement near perihelion. Non-crustal field aurora additionally shows a secondary enhancement near Ls 30°. This seasonal variability is a combination of the variability in ionospheric photoelectrons and thermospheric atomic oxygen abundance. Auroral occurrence also shows an increase with the rise of Solar Cycle 25. The brightest auroral pixels are observed during space weather events such as CMEs and SIRs. These observations not only shed light on where and when Martian aurora occurs, but also add to our understanding of Mars' magnetic environment and its interaction with the heliosphere.

C Krishnaprasad

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We investigate the solar events of late solar cycle 24 in July 2017 observed by a number of spacecraft in the inner heliosphere widely separated in heliolongitude and radial distance. These include spacecraft at L1 point, STEREO-A, near Earth satellites, and MAVEN (near Mars). The GRASP payload onboard Indian GSAT-19 satellite provides a new vantage point for Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) observations near Earth. There were two major Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and a Stream Interaction Region (SIR) event in July 2017, which is a period during the deep descending phase of the historically weak solar cycle 24. The 16 July CME was Earth directed and the 24 July CME was STEREO-A and Mars directed. Earth and Mars were on the opposite sides of the solar disk, while Mars and STEREO-A were aligned with respect to the nominal Parker spiral field. The 24 July event was stronger and wider in heliolongitude. This CME-driven shock had magnetic connectivity to Earth, which produced an SEP event at Earth ~two days later. The spectral indices of the event observed directly at STEREO-A and at the remote location of ACE was found to be similar. The 16 July SIR event was observed by both MAVEN and STEREO-A. Higher particle intensities (a factor of 6 enhancement for 1 MeV protons) are observed by MAVEN (at 1.58 AU) compared to STEREO-A (at 0.96 AU). Also a spectral hardening is observed while comparing the spectral indices at these two locations, indicating proton acceleration at the SIR forward shock during the radial propagation of 0.62 AU in the interplanetary space.