Lightning On Mars Scientists Believe They Ve Detected Its Crackling

November 27, 2025 / 4:31 PM EST / CBS/AP Scientists have detected what they believe to be lightning on Mars by eavesdropping on the whirling wind recorded by NASA's Perseverance rover. The crackling of electrical discharges was captured by a microphone on the rover, a French-led team reported Wednesday. The researchers documented 55 instances of "mini lightning" over two Martian years, primarily during dust storms and dust devils. Almost all occurred on the windiest Martian sols, or days, during dust storms and dust devils. Just inches in size, the electrical arcs occurred within 6 feet of the microphone perched atop the rover's tall mast, part of a system for examining Martian rocks via camera and lasers.

Sparks from the electrical discharges — akin to static electricity here on Earth — are clearly audible amid the noisy wind gusts and dust particles smacking the microphone. Marcia Dunn, Associated Press Marcia Dunn, Associated Press CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists have detected what they believe to be lightning on Mars by eavesdropping on the whirling wind recorded by NASA’s Perseverance rover. The crackling of electrical discharges was captured by a microphone on the rover, a French-led team reported Wednesday. The researchers documented 55 instances of what they call “mini lightning” over two Martian years, primarily during dust storms and dust devils.

Almost all occurred on the windiest Martian sols, or days, during dust storms and dust devils. Just inches (centimeters) in size, the electrical arcs occurred within 6 feet (2 meters) of the microphone perched atop the rover’s tall mast, part of a system for examining Martian rocks via camera and... Sparks from the electrical discharges — akin to static electricity here on Earth — are clearly audible amid the noisy wind gusts and dust particles smacking the microphone. This image provided by NASA, shows a selfie of their Perseverance Mars rover, on July 23, 2024. The image is made up of 62 individual images that were stitched together. (NASA via AP, file)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists have detected what they believe to be lightning on Mars by eavesdropping on the whirling wind recorded by NASA’s Perseverance rover. The crackling of electrical discharges was captured by a microphone on the rover, a French-led team reported Wednesday. The researchers documented 55 instances of what they call “mini lightning” over two Martian years, primarily during dust storms and dust devils. Almost all occurred on the windiest Martian sols, or days, during dust storms and dust devils. Just inches (centimeters) in size, the electrical arcs occurred within 6 feet (2 meters) of the microphone perched atop the rover’s tall mast, part of a system for examining Martian rocks via camera and...

Sparks from the electrical discharges — akin to static electricity here on Earth — are clearly audible amid the noisy wind gusts and dust particles smacking the microphone. The striking discovery was made by a NASA rover ‘eavesdropping’ on the red planet’s whirling winds From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important... At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Scientists believe they have detected lightning on Mars, thanks to the sensitive microphone aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover. The discovery was made by "eavesdropping" on the planet's whirling winds. Scientists have detected what they believe to be lightning on Mars by eavesdropping on the whirling wind recorded by NASA's Perseverance rover

Scientists Capture the Crackling Sounds of What They Believe Is Lightning on Mars FILE - This image provided by NASA, shows a selfie of their Perseverance Mars rover, on July 23, 2024. The image is made up of 62 individual images that were stitched together. (NASA via AP, file) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists have detected what they believe to be lightning on Mars by eavesdropping on the whirling wind recorded by NASA's Perseverance rover.

The crackling of electrical discharges was captured by a microphone on the rover, a French-led team reported Wednesday. On Earth, lightning can occur in turbulent clouds of volcanic ash. Now researchers have found evidence of sparks in Martian dust devils. NASA/JPL/Caltech/University of Arizona hide caption Mini-lightning strikes created by whirling dust devils on Mars have been detected accidentally by the microphone on board the Perseverance rover. The chance discovery is direct evidence of a form of lightning on Mars, researchers say in a report published in Nature.

They describe how the rover's microphone picked up signs of electrical arcs just a few centimeters long, which were accompanied by audible shockwaves. "There's been a very big mystery about lightning on Mars for a long time. It's probably one of the biggest mysteries about Mars," says Daniel Mitchard, a lightning researcher at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom, who wasn't part of the research team but wrote an accompanying commentary... "The key thing here," he explains, "is that we actually have a rover on the surface of Mars that appears to have detected something that fits our idea of what we think lightning on... CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists have detected what they believe to be lightning on Mars by eavesdropping on the whirling wind recorded by NASA's Perseverance rover.

The crackling of electrical discharges was captured by a microphone on the rover, a French-led team reported Wednesday. The researchers documented 55 instances of what they call “mini lightning” over two Martian years, primarily during dust storms and dust devils. Almost all occurred on the windiest Martian sols, or days, during dust storms and dust devils. Just inches (centimeters) in size, the electrical arcs occurred within 6 feet (2 meters) of the microphone perched atop the rover’s tall mast, part of a system for examining Martian rocks via camera and... Sparks from the electrical discharges — akin to static electricity here on Earth — are clearly audible amid the noisy wind gusts and dust particles smacking the microphone. Scientists have been looking for electrical activity and lightning at Mars for half a century, said the study’s lead author Baptiste Chide, of the Institute for Research in Astrophysics and Planetology in Toulouse.

For decades, researchers have suspected that lightning lights up the sky on Mars. Now, they may have captured at least the audio evidence to prove it. NASA’s Perseverance rover recorded dozens of instances of electricity crackling in the Red Planet’s atmosphere, researchers report in a new paper published November 26 in the journal Nature. Mars does not have large, jagged bolts of lightning like those common during thunderstorms on Earth. Rather, the Red Planet has what researchers call “mini lightning.” These are tiny electrical discharges similar to the brief zap you might feel after rubbing your feet along carpet and then touching a metal... The lightning on Mars is what’s known as triboelectricity.

This phenomenon occurs when airborne particles—such as those whirling around during Martian dust storms—rub against each other, which causes their atoms to become positively or negatively charged. These charged atoms accumulate and separate, causing an electrical field to form between them. When the imbalance becomes too great, the negatively charged components of atoms leap across the field, producing small electrical arcs—a tiny spark or, in some cases, a massive bolt of lightning. The same spectacle occurs on Earth within sandstorms and ash plumes of volcanic eruptions. A lonely rover toiling among the sands of Mars has now answered an age-old question: If lightning crackles on the red planet and no one hears it, does it still make a sound? In recordings obtained by NASA's Perseverance rover, scientists have identified, for the first time, electrical discharges captured during Mars's wild dust events and whirling dust devils – not once, but 55 times over two...

Crucially, the dusty weather in which these events appeared reveals the specific conditions required to generate electricity in the thin, bone-dry atmosphere of Mars – long suspected but never directly demonstrated until now. Related: Curiosity Cracked Open a Rock on Mars – And Discovered a Big Surprise Lightning is thought to occur when turbulent conditions in an atmosphere jostle particles around, rubbing them together to generate charge. Eventually, so much charge builds up that it has to go somewhere, producing a discharge.

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