Empirically determined auroral electron events at Mars - MAVEN observations

Discrete aurorae have been observed at magnetized planets such as Earth and Jupiter. Similar localized auroral emissions have also been reported at Mars, which has localized strong crustal fields, but no global dipole field. Mars' localized auroral emissions, termed discrete aurora, have been associated with electron acceleration events (much like the other two planets), but direct and quantitative comparisons of these two types of events are lacking. In this study, we establish empirical criteria to select electron events (``auroral electrons") that could trigger detectable auroral emissions, using measurements from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft, thereby enabling a direct statistical comparison. We find that the selected electron events have similar statistical characteristics to those previously reported for discrete auroral events. This study bridges the gap between electron observations and auroral detections and motivates collaborations across different Mars missions, as well as comparative planetary studies of discrete aurora.