For years scientists have suspected that Mars has lightning and electrical activity. A study now confirms it: particles in the dusty Martian atmosphere rub against one another, building up electrical charge that discharges in the form of lightning. Aside from Earth, lightning and electric activity were only known to occur on Saturn and Jupiter.
Link to study: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09736-y
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mars-has-lightning-scientists-prove/
5 Comments
Electricity exists on Mars? I thought it was a phenomenon contained to Earth.
Now it’s 4 out of 8 planets. Not so rare. 😜
So my colonist dying via lightning strike in my Surviving Mars game was actually scientifically plausible.
With Mars now having confirmed lightning every planet with an atmosphere in the solar system has confirmed lightning
As I mentioned under another such post, I’ve not heard of centimeter-long static discharges being referred to as lightning. Of course, the first thing one might think of is the much more potent and dramatic terrestrial lightning falling from the sky. Based on all I’ve read, this is nowhere near that.