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November 26, 2025<\/p>\n
3 min read<\/p>\n
Mars Has Lightning, Scientists Prove<\/p>\n
The presence of electrical activity has implications for surface chemistry, future human exploration and habitability on the Red Planet<\/p>\n
By Payal Dhar edited by Clara Moskowitz<\/span><\/p>\n Lightning on Mars likely arises from electrical charge built up by dust devils, scientists say.<\/p>\n NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/Univ. of Arizona<\/p>\n For years scientists have suspected that Mars has lightning and electrical activity. A study now confirms it: particles in the dusty Martian atmosphere rub against one another, building up electrical charge that discharges in the form of lightning. Aside from Earth, lightning and electric activity were only known to occur on Saturn and Jupiter.<\/p>\n On Earth, wind-blown dust and sand particles can become electrified because of a process called triboelectrification, or the transfer of charge between two objects when they rub against each other, a result of friction. Mars\u2019s atmosphere has dust and sand and is prone to dust devils and dust storms. Some dust storms range over thousands of kilometers, making the likelihood of electrification high.<\/p>\n The research team analyzed 28 hours of microphone recordings captured by NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover over two Martian years, picking up electromagnetic signatures and acoustic signals typical of electrical activity, according to the study, which was published in Nature on November 26.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n The scientists identified 55 electrical events, all but one of which occurred during periods when winds were in the top 30 percent over the two years. This pattern indicates that wind plays a crucial role in initiating electrical charge on Mars. Dust devil activity, the researchers say, is highly variable on the planet. The Perseverance readings were taken in the Jezero Crater, but other regions on Mars may get 20 times more dust devils.<\/p>\n “On Earth, the electrification of dust, sand and snow particles is well-documented, particularly in desert regions, but it rarely results in actual electrical discharges,\u201d says study co-author Baptiste Chide of the Universite\u0301 de Toulouse in France. \u201cOn Mars, however, the thin CO\u2082 atmosphere makes this phenomenon far more likely, as the amount of charge required to generate sparks is much lower than on Earth.”<\/p>\n This is the first time there has been convincing evidence that electrical activity on Mars is actually occurring, says Francis Nimmo, a planetary scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who wasn\u2019t involved in the study. \u201cNow there will be renewed interest in looking for it with other instruments, either orbiting spacecraft or radio telescopes on Earth,\u201d Nimmo says.<\/p>\n The presence of electrical activity on Mars has implications for surface chemistry, future human exploration and habitability. For instance, it could affect dust dynamics and create an electrochemically reactive environment, enhancing oxidizing conditions that would affect the preservation of organic molecules and pose risks to equipment.<\/p>\n “The discovery of sparks in Mars dust storms and dust devils illustrates one of the risks of Mars exploration, as space hardware can become far more easily damaged than on Earth,\u201d says study co-author Roger Wiens of Purdue University. \u201cThe very first spacecraft to land on Mars [the Soviet Mars 3] came down in the middle of a dust storm; it transmitted for 15 seconds and went dead, never to be heard from again. We suspect that it might well have been a victim of triboelectric charging.”<\/p>\n The researchers also reproduced the characteristic features of triboelectric discharges in a lab setup and observed them with a ground-based replica of Perseverance\u2019s SuperCam camera. \u201c[This] is a good indication that their conclusions are robust,\u201d Nimmo says.<\/p>\n In the future, dedicated instruments and improved atmospheric models could be deployed to further study and quantify electrical phenomena and their chemical consequences on Mars, the scientists say.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" November 26, 2025 3 min read Mars Has Lightning, Scientists Prove The presence of electrical activity has implications for surface chemistry, future human exploration and habitability on the Red Planet By Payal Dhar edited by Clara Moskowitz Lightning on Mars likely arises from electrical charge built up by dust devils, scientists say. NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/Univ. of Arizona<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[238,369,5180,384],"class_list":{"0":"post-35468","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-lightning","9":"tag-mars","10":"tag-prove","11":"tag-scientists"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/35469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
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