In December 2023, scientists looking at Mars data stumbled across something completely unexpected — observations of an atmospheric effect never before seen in the Red Planet’s atmosphere. Using instruments aboard NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) mission, scientists identified a phenomenon known to occur in Earth’s magnetosphere, where charged particles are squeezed like toothpaste coming out of a tube along magnetic structures called flux tubes. This so-called Zwan-Wolf effect aids in the deflection of solar wind around Earth and has been observed and studied there for decades. Now, a new study published in Nature Communications provides the first comprehensive observations of the same effect in Mars’ atmosphere.
2023 年 12 月，科学家在查看火星数据时偶然发现了一些完全出乎意料的事情——观察到在这颗红色星球的大气中从未见过的大气效应。利用美国宇航局 MAVEN（火星大气和挥发性演化）任务中的仪器，科学家们发现了一种已知发生在地球磁层中的现象，带电粒子像牙膏一样沿着称为磁通管的磁性结构从管子中挤出来。这种所谓的“天鹅-沃尔夫效应”有助于地球周围太阳风的偏转，数十年来人们一直在地球上观察和研究这种效应。现在，发表在《自然通讯》上的一项新研究首次全面观察到了火星大气中的相同效应。
“When investigating the data, I all of a sudden noticed some very interesting wiggles,” said Christopher Fowler, a research assistant professor at West Virginia University in Morgantown and lead author of the study . “I would never have guessed it would be this effect, since it’s never been seen in a planetary atmosphere before.”
“在调查数据时，我突然注意到一些非常有趣的波动，”摩根敦西弗吉尼亚大学研究助理教授、该研究的主要作者克里斯托弗·福勒 (Christopher Fowler) 说。 “我从来没有想到会出现这种效应，因为以前从未在行星大气层中见过这种效应。”
The Zwan-Wolf effect was first discovered in 1976, and until now has only been observed in planetary magnetospheres, not their atmospheres. Unlike Earth, Mars is not protected by a global magnetic field, affecting how it interacts with the solar wind and space weather. In this new study, the Zwan-Wolf effect was observed in the ionosphere — deep within the Martian atmosphere below 200 km — which contains significant numbers of electrically charged particles. The data showed that these charged particles were being squeezed and distributed around Mars’ atmosphere.
兹万-沃尔夫效应于 1976 年首次被发现，迄今为止仅在行星磁层中观察到，而在其大气层中尚未观察到。与地球不同，火星不受全球磁场的保护，影响了它与太阳风和太空天气的相互作用。在这项新研究中，在电离层（火星大气层深处 200 公里以下）中观察到了 Zwan-Wolf 效应，其中含有大量带电粒子。数据显示这些带电粒子被挤压并分布在火星大气层周围。
Although Mars has an induced magnetosphere, a magnetic field generated by the solar wind interacting with the Martian ionosphere, it can greatly change in size and shape with large solar wind and space weather events. That is what Fowler and his team saw in the MAVEN data when a large solar storm hit Mars. Based on their findings, the Zwan-Wolf effect may be occurring constantly in the Martian ionosphere but at levels undetectable by MAVEN’s instrumentation. The impact of the space weather event appears to have amplified the effect, allowing the scientists to observe it in the data.
尽管火星具有感应磁层（由太阳风与火星电离层相互作用产生的磁场），但它的大小和形状会因大型太阳风和太空天气事件而发生巨大变化。这就是福勒和他的团队在一场大型太阳风暴袭击火星时从 MAVEN 数据中看到的情况。根据他们的发现，Zwan-Wolf 效应可能在火星电离层中不断发生，但 MAVEN 的仪器无法检测到其水平。太空天气事件的影响似乎放大了这种影响，使科学家能够在数据中观察到它。
In the beginning, Fowler and his team came across some interesting-looking fluctuations in measurements of the magnetic field as the spacecraft flew through the atmosphere. To explain this, they dug into observations made by several instruments on MAVEN, including measurements of the charged particle environment in the ionosphere. Their sleuthing uncovered even more weird and interesting features in the data. After ruling out several other possibilities, the team was able to identify the culprit as the Zwan-Wolf effect, which explained all the features they were seeing.
一开始，当航天器飞过大气层时，福勒和他的团队在磁场测量中发现了一些有趣的波动。为了解释这一点，他们深入研究了 MAVEN 上多个仪器的观测结果，包括对电离层中带电粒子环境的测量。他们的调查发现了数据中更加奇怪和有趣的特征。在排除了其他几种可能性后，研究小组将罪魁祸首确定为“Zwan-Wolf 效应”，这解释了他们所看到的所有特征。
“No one expected that this effect could even occur in the atmosphere,” said Fowler. “That’s what makes this even more exciting. It introduces interesting physics that we haven’t yet explored and a new way the Sun and space weather can change the dynamics in the Martian atmosphere.”
“没有人预料到这种效应甚至会发生在大气中，”福勒说。 “这就是让这更令人兴奋的原因。它引入了我们尚未探索的有趣物理学，以及太阳和太空天气改变火星大气动态的新方式。”
Understanding the Zwan-Wolf effect at Mars will further our understanding of how space weather affects the planet and provides new insight into how this effect might occur at similar unmagnetized bodies, such as Venus and Saturn’s moon Titan. Observations like this also highlight the importance of knowing how large space weather events can lead to changes in the environment at and around the Red Planet and potentially affect assets on or near Mars.
了解火星上的“兹万-沃尔夫效应”将进一步加深我们对太空天气如何影响火星的理解，并为了解这种效应如何发生在类似的非磁化天体（例如金星和土星的卫星泰坦）上提供新的见解。像这样的观测还强调了了解大型太空天气事件会导致红色星球及其周围环境变化并可能影响火星上或附近资产的重要性。
“Knowing how space weather interacts with Mars is essential,” said Shannon Curry, the principal investigator of MAVEN and research scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder. “The MAVEN team continues making new discoveries with our datasets and finding these links between our host star and the Red Planet.”
MAVEN 首席研究员、科罗拉多大学博尔德分校大气空间物理实验室研究科学家 Shannon Curry 表示：“了解太空天气如何与火星相互作用至关重要。” “MAVEN 团队继续利用我们的数据集做出新的发现，并寻找我们的主恒星和红色星球之间的联系。”
The MAVEN spacecraft launched in November 2013 and entered Mars’ orbit in September 2014. The mission’s goal is to explore the planet’s upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and interactions with the Sun and solar wind to explore the loss of the Martian atmosphere to space. Understanding atmospheric loss gives scientists insight into the history of the Red Planet’s atmosphere and climate, liquid water, and planetary habitability. The MAVEN spacecraft, in orbit around Mars, experienced a loss of signal with ground stations on Earth on Dec. 6, 2025. In Feb. 2026, NASA launched an anomaly review board to assess the probable current state of the spacecraft and the likelihood of its recovery.
MAVEN 航天器于 2013 年 11 月发射，并于 2014 年 9 月进入火星轨道。该任务的目标是探索火星的高层大气、电离层以及与太阳和太阳风的相互作用，以探索火星大气层向太空的流失。了解大气损失使科学家能够深入了解这颗红色星球的大气和气候、液态水和行星宜居性的历史。 2025 年 12 月 6 日，绕火星轨道运行的 MAVEN 航天器与地球地面站发生信号丢失。2026 年 2 月，NASA 启动了一个异常审查委员会，以评估航天器当前可能的状态及其恢复的可能性。
The MAVEN mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio. The mission’s principal investigator is based at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, which is also responsible for managing science operations and public outreach and communications. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the MAVEN mission. Lockheed Martin Space built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California provides navigation and Deep Space Network support.
MAVEN 任务是 NASA 火星探索计划组合的一部分。该任务的首席研究员位于科罗拉多大学博尔德分校大气和空间物理实验室，该实验室还负责管理科学运作以及公共宣传和通信。美国宇航局位于马里兰州格林贝尔特的戈达德太空飞行中心负责管理 MAVEN 任务。洛克希德·马丁航天公司建造了该航天器并负责任务运行。美国宇航局位于南加州的喷气推进实验室提供导航和深空网络支持。
By Willow Reed Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder
作者：科罗拉多大学博尔德分校威洛·里德大气与空间物理实验室
Karen Fox / Alana Johnson Headquarters, Washington 240-285-5155 / 202-672-4780 karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov
凯伦·福克斯 / 阿兰娜·约翰逊 华盛顿总部 240-285-5155 / 202-672-4780 karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov
Sarah Frazier Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. sarah.frazier@nasa.gov
莎拉·弗雷泽·戈达德太空飞行中心，马里兰州格林贝尔特 sarah.frazier@nasa.gov