Credit: NASA/CXC/MPE/K.Dennerl et al.

Chandra's image of Mars gave scientists their first look at X-rays from the red planet. In its sparse upper atmosphere, about 120 (75 miles) kilometers above the surface, X-rays are produced by fluorescent radiation from oxygen atoms excited by X-radiation from the Sun. The X-ray power detected from the Martian atmosphere is very small, amounting to only 4 megawatts, comparable to the X-ray power of about ten thousand medical X-ray machines.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2002/mars/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

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