Science
News: Scientists say they have seen the first direct
evidence of lightning on Mars, in the form of electrical
discharges during a Martian dust storm.The finding has
implications for human travel to the Red Planet and for
studying possible origins of life on Mars, the authors say
in
a paper to appear in
Geophysical Research Letters
.It has been thought
that lightning might be possible on Mars. Bits of dust rubbing
against each other in one of the planet's famous dust devils
could charge up the particles the same way that running on a
carpet charges up socks. All that charge could then be
discharged in a zap, either as lightning or a shock.But
catching Martian lightning in the act was difficult: The
lightning bursts were too small to distinguish from the energy
emanating from the planet itself. And the dust storms
themselves obscured the faint glow that might have been visible
from just above the red planet.
Related Link
Emission
of non-thermal microwave radiation by a Martian dust
storm
