Miniature Lightning Bolts Detected on Mars by NASA’s Perseverance Rover
JEZERO CRATER, MARS - NASA scientists have, for the first time, detected electrical discharges – akin to miniature lightning bolts – occurring within Martian dust storms and dust devils.The groundbreaking revelation, reported in the journal Nature, confirms long-held theories about the potential for electrical activity on the Red Planet and offers new insights into the dynamics of its atmosphere.
The breakthrough wasn’t made through visual observation, but through sound. Perseverance rover’s SuperCam instrument, which has been recording the Martian soundscape as landing in the Jezero crater region in 2021, identified 55 unusual events. Each event began with a sharp electronic disturbance picked up by the microphone’s circuitry, followed milliseconds later by a faint acoustic pulse – a signal pattern consistent with a small electrical discharge. Researchers were able to estimate the distance of the sparks based on the timing between the electromagnetic and acoustic signals.
these bursts are believed to form when fast-moving dust and sand grains collide and rub against one another, transferring tiny amounts of electrical charge. this process is similar to how thunderstorms develop on Earth, where ice crystals colliding accumulate charge. Most of the detected events were small,but one particularly strong burst was recorded when an intense dust devil passed directly over the rover,leading scientists to believe Perseverance itself may have accumulated static electricity and discharged it into the ground.
The findings provide further understanding of the complex atmospheric processes on Mars and could have implications for future human exploration of the planet.
