Mars Sparks Detected: MAVEN Discovers First Martian Lightning Whistler
TL;DR
NASA’s MAVEN orbiter has captured the first confirmed electrical signal consistent with lightning in Mars’ atmosphere—a low-frequency ‘lightning whistler’ likely produced inside dust storms. The discovery confirms Martian atmospheric electricity, though the discharges are weaker than Earth’s, and researchers will continue searching for clusters to map where such events occur and how they influence Martian chemistry.
- NASA’s Orbiter Captures the First Confirmed Lightning Evidence in Mars Atmosphere The Daily Galaxy
- "It Occurred On The Nightside": NASA's MAVEN Orbiter Detects Potential Lightning Strike On Mars IFLScience
- Is there lightning on Mars? New evidence suggests it’s there, just hard to see Scientific American
- Lightning 'Whistler' Detected on Mars For The First Time, Scientists Report ScienceAlert
- The presence of lightning on Mars has been proven for the first time logos-pres.md
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