article_snippet: Because Mars has a very thin atmosphere, the sun's energetic particles hit Mars directly and penetrate deeper creating incredibly bright and vast light shows.
article_snippet: Earth has a magnetic shield, known as a magnetosphere, that protects Earth atmosphere from radiation from the sun.
article_snippet: Mars, however, only has a very thin atmosphere.
article_snippet: Mars magnetosphere was lost billions of years ago turning a once watery world into the barren planet we see today.
article_snippet: When solar particles hit the barren planet we see today, solar particles can hit the atmosphere directly and penetrate deeper creating incredibly bright and vast light shows.
article_snippet: Billions of years ago, Mars lost a global protective magnetic field like Earth has, so solar particles can directly strike the atmosphere.
article_snippet: Because has a thin atmosphere, the sun's energetic particles hit the sun directly and penetrate deeper.  