"There's an electrifying new development in Mars science. NASA's Perseverance rover has just captured proof of a weather phenomenon that was long suspected, but until now, never observed: electric discharges that brew within the dust devils that torment Mars' surface. The discovery, described in a new study in the journal Nature, confirms that lightning discharges occur in the Martian atmosphere. The dust devils that the discharges appear in are a common fixture on the Red Planet."
"On Mars specifically, it was suspected that dust trapped in this whirlwind whips together to create a static charge through friction, a manifestation of the same so-called triboelectric effect that causes a spark after you shuffle across a carpet and touch a metal doorknob. "Triboelectric charging of sand and snow particles is well documented on Earth, particularly in desert regions, but it rarely results in actual electrical discharges,""
Mars' Perseverance rover detected electric discharges occurring within Martian dust devils, confirming lightning in the Martian atmosphere. Dust devils form as rapidly rising columns of warm air that stir and transport dust, enabling triboelectric charging as particles rub together. Mars' thin atmosphere reduces the charge needed to create sparks compared with Earth's near-surface atmosphere. Lightning on Mars had been suspected but undetected, despite being known on other planets like Saturn and Jupiter. The detection depended on fortunate timing and was captured by a microphone on Perseverance's SuperCam instrument.
Read at Futurism
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