Nasa Rover Discovers Lightning On Mars The New York Times

By: Javier Barbuzano .pp-multiple-authors-boxes-wrapper.pp-multiple-authors-layout-inline.multiple-authors-target-shortcode .pp-author-boxes-avatar img { width: 80px !important; height: 80px !important; } .pp-multiple-authors-boxes-wrapper.pp-multiple-authors-layout-inline.multiple-authors-target-shortcode .pp-author-boxes-avatar img { border-radius: 50% !important; } .pp-multiple-authors-boxes-wrapper.pp-multiple-authors-layout-inline.multiple-authors-target-shortcode .pp-author-boxes-meta a { background-color: #655997 !important; } .pp-multiple-authors-boxes-wrapper.pp-multiple-authors-layout-inline.multiple-authors-target-shortcode .pp-author-boxes-meta a {... Yes, I would like to receive emails from Sky & Telescope. (You can unsubscribe anytime) The microphone on NASA’s Perseverance rover unexpectedly heard tiny claps of thunder from sparks caused by colliding dust grains. For decades, scientists have pondered whether there’s lightning on Mars. The phenomenon is already confirmed on gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn and considered very likely in Uranus and Neptune.

However, definitive evidence of lightning strikes on Earth’s closest neighbors Venus and Mars has remained elusive. Now, a team of researchers has finally detected electrical discharges in the Martian atmosphere. They are nothing like the miles-long, wrath-of-the-gods lightning we experience on Earth; instead, they look more like the faint electrostatic discharges that occur when rubbing a sweater on a dry day. These discharges occur when airborne dust grains collide with each other after being lifted by strong Martian winds, a process known as triboelectrification. 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. The study could help engineers to design spacesuits, spacecraft and equipment that resist damage from the low-level electrical activity. Published Dec 1, 2025 6:52 PM PST | Updated Dec 1, 2025 6:52 PM PST

NASA's Perseverance rover recorded evidence of electrical activity on the surface of Mars after NASA deployed the rover on the Red Planet in 2021, according to a scientific study published on Wednesday. (Photo Credit: NASA | License Photo) Nov. 26 (UPI) -- NASA's Perseverance rover has recorded the first evidence of electrical activity on Mars that a scientist described as "mini lightning." A scientific team analyzed 28 hours of audio and video recordings made by the rover that landed on Mars in February 2021, and the team determined that some recordings are evidence of electrical activity... 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... 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.

Nov. 26 (UPI) -- NASA's Perseverance rover has recorded the first evidence of electrical activity on Mars that a scientist described as "mini lightning." A scientific team analyzed 28 hours of audio and video recordings made by the rover that landed on Mars in February 2021, and the team determined that some recordings are evidence of electrical activity... The electrical activity is not like the lightning bolts that occur during adverse weather on Earth and instead is more akin to static electricity that is thought to be caused when dust devils pass... "This is more like mini-lightning on Mars," scientist Baptiste Chide of the Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetary Science in Toulouse, France, said, as reported by The New York Times. The lightning is so weak that it won't kill someone, but it could be an important component of chemical reactions in Mars' atmosphere, Chide and his team of scientists said in a study published...

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.

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