Martian 'lightning' detected by scientists
Western Mail
|November 29, 2025
SCIENTISTS have detected what they believe to be lightning on Mars by eavesdropping on the whirling wind recorded by Nasa's Perseverance rover.
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The crackling of electrical discharges was captured by a microphone on the rover, a French-led team reported on Wednesday.
The researchers documented 55 instances of what they call "mini-lightning" over two Martian years. 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 6ft 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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