Using data captured by the SuperCam microphone aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover over two Martian years, planetary scientists detected 55 triboelectric discharge events associated with dust devils and dust storms.
Detection of electrical discharges in dust devils by the SuperCam instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars. Image credit: Nicolas Sarter.
In our solar system, lightning and electrical activity occurs on Earth, Saturn, and Jupiter.
The existence of electrical activity on Mars has been theorized, but never directly demonstrated.
The dusty surface of Mars is frequently the scene of a series of localized and planet-wide events, including wind-blown dust and sand, dust storms, and dust devils, known to cause the electrification of the Earth.
Understanding whether such electrification is occurring on Mars is critical, as it informs our understanding of the planet’s surface chemistry and could affect the safety of robotic and human missions.
To answer this question, University of Toulouse researcher Baptiste Chide and his colleagues analyzed 28 hours of recordings collected with Perseverance’s SuperCam microphone over two Martian years.
By identifying the interference and acoustic signatures characteristic of lightning, the authors categorized 55 electrical events.
They found that 54 of these events occurred within the strongest 30% of winds recorded during the study period, indicating that wind plays a crucial role in initiating electrical charging on Mars.
Sixteen events were also recorded during the rover’s only two close encounters with dust devils, highlighting the possibility that more distant or low-energy discharges could also have taken place beyond microphone range.
These observations suggest that Mars’ atmosphere is electrically active, particularly during localized dust uprisings rather than during overall dusty seasons.
“On Earth, atmospheric electricity is dominated by the accumulation of charges in clouds and storms and is violently discharged in the form of lightning,” said Dr. Ricardo Hueso, a researcher at the University of the Basque Country.
“On Mars, atmospheric electricity is dry and is produced by collisions between dust particles during whirlwinds and dust storms, resulting in much weaker discharges than on Earth.”
“With its thin carbon dioxide atmosphere, Mars is a dusty, cold and dry world, where the wind is sometimes very strong, blowing in gusts and creating swirls and rising dust bubbles,” added Dr Agustín Sánchez-Lavega, also from the University of the Basque Country.
“This can form giant storm fronts several hundred kilometers long, which sometimes cover the entire planet in dust.”
“We therefore expect that previously elusive electrical discharges will be particularly numerous when these environmental conditions occur.”
“Our study opens the door to many questions about the effects of natural electricity on the atmosphere of Mars,” the authors conclude.
Their article was published on November 26, 2025 in the journal Nature.
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B.Chide and others. 2025. Detection of triboelectric discharges during dust events on Mars. Nature 647, 865-869; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09736-y
