For the past four years, NASA’s Perseverance rover has been looking for signs of life on the surface of Mars . The data it has relayed to Earth has yet to prove that life once existed on the Red Planet. But experts think the rover may have offered evidence of something else. It may have captured proof of lightning. A research team at France’s Institute for Research in Astrophysics and Planetology (IRAP) studied 28 hours of audio files taken by the Mars rover. They also studied its electromagnetic readings. The team found that the rover would pick up strange electric discharges at times. These bursts happened most often during Mars’ frequent dust storms. As hot air rises from Mars’ sandy surface, it churns dust into dense, rolling clouds. Those same air currents can produce enough friction to form lightning, the IRAP research team believes. Baptiste Chide told Reuters the findings were a big deal. He said it could affect much of what we know about Mars. Chide is an expert in planetary acoustics. That's the study of audio signals from planets' surfaces. He was the lead author of IRAP's study. The study was published in the journal Nature. If confirmed, Mars would join Earth, Saturn, and Jupiter as the only planets known to produce lightning. Chide’s team hopes to send something to Mars that can capture visual proof of lightning strikes. Doing so, they say, will help settle a longstanding debate about weather on Mars. Reflect: If you could witness any natural event in space up close, which one would you choose? Gif of Mars from Giphy.
