Mars Has Lightning, Scientists Prove

There is lightning on Mars, scientists have proven

TO Payal Dhar edited by Clara Moskowitz

For years, scientists have suspected that Mars has lightning and electrical activity. Research now confirms this: Particles in the dusty Martian atmosphere rub against each other, creating an electrical charge that discharges as lightning. Besides Earth, lightning and electrical activity have only been observed on Saturn and Jupiter.

On Earth, windblown dust and sand particles can become electrified through a process called triboelectrificationor the transfer of charge between two objects when they rub against each other through friction. The atmosphere of Mars is composed of dust and sand and is prone to dust storms and storms. Some dust storms extend for thousands of kilometers, increasing the likelihood of electrification.

The research team analyzed 28 hours of microphone recordings taken by NASA's Perseverance rover over two Martian years, picking up electromagnetic signatures and acoustic signals typical of electrical activity, according to the study, which was conducted by published in Nature November 26.

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The scientists identified 55 electrical events, all but one of which occurred during periods when winds were in the top 30 percent of strong winds over two years. This pattern indicates that wind plays a critical role in generating electrical charge on Mars. According to the researchers, the activity of dust devils on the planet varies greatly. Perseverance's readings were taken at Jezero Crater, but there could be 20 times more dust devils in other regions of Mars.

“On Earth, electrification of dust, sand and snow particles is well documented, especially in desert regions, but it rarely results in actual electrical discharges,” says study co-author Baptiste Chide of the University of Toulouse in France. “However, on Mars, the thin atmosphere of CO₂ makes this phenomenon much more likely, since the amount of charge required to produce sparks is much less than on Earth.”

According to scientists, for the first time, convincing evidence has been obtained that electrical activity actually occurs on Mars. Francis Nimmoa planetary scientist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who was not involved in the study. “There will now be renewed interest in searching for it using other instruments, either orbiting spacecraft or radio telescopes on Earth,” says Nimmo.

The presence of electrical activity on Mars has implications for surface chemistry, future human exploration, and habitability. For example, it can affect dust dynamics and create an electrochemically active environment, increasing oxidative conditions that will affect the integrity of organic molecules and pose a risk to equipment.

“The discovery of sparks in dust storms and dust devils on Mars illustrates one of the risks of Mars exploration, since space equipment is much more easily damaged than on Earth,” says study co-author Roger Wiens of Purdue University. “The very first spacecraft to land on Mars [the Soviet Mars 3] fell in the middle of a dust storm; it aired for 15 seconds and went silent, never to be heard from again. We suspect that he may well have been the victim of a triboelectric charge.”

The researchers also reproduced the signature characteristics of triboelectric discharges in a laboratory setup and observed them using a ground-based replica of Perseverance's SuperCam. “[This] is a good indicator that their findings are reliable,” says Nimmo.

In the future, special instruments and improved atmospheric models could be used to further study and quantify electrical phenomena and their chemical consequences on Mars, the scientists said.

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