NASA’s Perseverance rover detects lightning on Mars for first time

Don’t miss the full story, whose reporting from Marcia Dunn at The Associated Press is the basis of this AI-assisted article.

Scientists have discovered evidence of lightning on Mars through audio recordings captured by NASA’s Perseverance rover’s microphone, marking a groundbreaking find in planetary science.

• A French-led research team detected 55 instances of “mini lightning” on Mars over two Martian years, primarily during dust storms and dust devils.

• The electrical discharges were captured by a microphone on NASA’s Perseverance rover, which recorded crackling sounds similar to static electricity on Earth.

• The tiny electrical arcs, just inches in size, occurred within 6 feet of the microphone mounted on the rover’s mast.

• Scientists have been searching for electrical activity and lightning on Mars for half a century before this discovery.

• The electrical discharges from dust devils lasted only a few seconds, while those from dust storms could persist for up to 30 minutes.

• Mars’ thin, carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere is more prone to electrical discharging through contact among dust and sand grains than Earth’s atmosphere.

• Lightning has previously been confirmed on Jupiter and Saturn, making Mars another planet with documented electrical atmospheric activity.

• The findings were published in the journal Nature, though some scientists suggest verification with new instruments is needed to confirm the discovery definitively.

READ MORE: Scientists capture the crackling sounds of what they believe is lightning on Mars