Lauriane Soret explores the luminous mysteries of the atmospheres of Mars and Venus
A researcher at the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Planetary Physics (LPAP) of the University of Liège, Lauriane Soret has been awarded an FNRS Research associate mandate. This important milestone will enable her to continue her research on luminous phenomena occurring in the atmospheres of Mars and Venus.
H
er project, entitled “Dynamics and composition of the upper atmospheres of Mars and Venus through airglow and auroras,” is part of a rapidly evolving field. Long considered to be devoid of true auroras due to the absence of a global internal magnetic field, Mars and Venus have nevertheless surprised the scientific community in recent years. Since the first detection of Martian auroras in 2005, an unexpected diversity of auroral phenomena—very different from those observed on Earth—has been revealed. “Auroras are even beginning to be observed in the visible range, on Venus and on Mars!” the researcher says with delight. “This represents major advances in our understanding of the interactions between these planets’ atmospheres and the solar wind.”
By analyzing auroras and “airglow” (light emissions induced by solar radiation), Lauriane Soret seeks to better understand the interactions between solar particles, residual magnetic fields, and planetary atmospheres. Combining observations from space missions - such as MAVEN, Mars Express, EMM, and Venus Express - with state-of-the-art numerical simulations, she aims to finely characterize atmospheric composition, dynamics, and responses to external variations such as solar activity.
But her research does not stop at understanding these two planets. It also offers keys to anticipating the effects of solar storms on future astronauts on Mars, and to enriching our knowledge of exoplanets without magnetic fields, potentially similar to Mars or Venus.
Lauriane Soret has nurtured her passion for space since childhood. Fascinated by the universe, she found a path that combines scientific rigor with a sense of wonder. After a dual engineering degree from Télécom Physique Strasbourg and a Research Master’s at the University of Strasbourg, Lauriane Soret joined the University of Liège in 2008 to pursue a PhD in space sciences. Since then, she has been developing her research at LPAP in close collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) through various space missions.
