‘Miniature โLightning‘ detected onโฃ Mars: NASA Rover Makes Rare Finding
PASADENA, CA – November 29, 2025 โ- NASA’s Perseverance rover hasโ detected evidence of transient luminous events – dubbed “miniature lightning” – in the Martian atmosphere,โข a rare โฃobservation detailed in a โขnew study published todayโค in Nature Geoscience.โ The discovery marks the first confirmed detection of electrical activity in โthe atmosphere ofโ another planet and offers โคcrucial insights into Martian dustโข devil formationโฃ and atmospheric composition.
While terrestrial lightning is commonly associated with water clouds, the Martian events occurred within dust devils, towering columns of โฃdust swirling acrossโ the โขplanet’s โขsurface.โข Researchers believe thes electrical discharges are generated by the friction between dust particles within the vortex, creating a localized electrical field strong enough to trigger the brief, faint โฃflashes observedโข by Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z camera system. This findingโฃ challenges existing models of Martian atmospheric electricity and opens new avenues for โฃunderstanding the planet’s complex weather patterns.
The observations, โmade between August 2023 and september 2024, revealed that these transient luminous events are considerably โsmaller and shorter in โduration than theirโค Earth-based counterparts.”It’s notโค the dramatic,โ cloud-to-ground lightning we’re used โto seeing,” explained Dr. Edwin kite, a planetary โฃscientist at the โCalifornia institute of Technology and lead author of the study.”These are more likeโ tiny sparks,occurring within theโ dust devil itself.”
The study’s findings suggest thatโ electrical activity mayโฃ play a โคmore โnotable role โฃin Martian meteorology than previously thought. โฃDust devils are known to influence the planet’s atmospheric circulation and contribute to dust storm formation. understanding the electricalโค processes within these vorticesโค could improve predictions of Martian weather events and inform future โrobotic and human exploration โmissions. NASA โscientists plan to continueโค monitoring for these events using Perseverance and, โขpossibly, future Martian missions equipped with dedicated atmospheric sensors.