Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN Mission (MAVEN) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has uncovered two new mysteries in the atmosphere of Mars. The probe, which has been orbiting the Red Planet since last year has noticed a weird high-altitude dust cloud and an aurora show in the atmosphere of the planet. According to reports, the dazzling aurora light show was much lower in the Martian atmosphere than scientists anticipated. In addition, scientists do not know about the origin of the dust cloud.

According to the space agency, the dust cloud had extended from about 150 kilometers to 300 kilometers over the surface of the planet. The agency said that it had not expected a weird dust cloud at those altitudes.

Laila Andersson, a scientist working on MAVEN at the University of Colorado Boulder, said in a press release that if the dust has originated from the atmosphere, then it suggested that the scientists do not know about some fundamental process in the atmosphere of the planet.

As per some theories from the scientists, the dust did not originate from Martian atmosphere. It could have drifted in from Mars' moons, Phobos and Deimos. They have also indicated that the dust could have come from comet debris orbiting the sun. According to the lead investigator Bruce Jakosky, the NASA space probe MAVEN will conduct a flyby of Phobos to check if it was responsible for the dust cloud.

The second mystery that the probe has observed is the bizarre aurora. As per the reports, it was observed in a place where scientists didn't expect to find it. Arnaud Stiepen, another MAVEN team member at the University of Colorado, said, "What's especially surprising about the aurora we saw is how deep in the atmosphere it occurs-much deeper than at Earth or elsewhere on Mars. The electrons producing it must be really energetic".