Ever wondered if the Red Planet has its own version of a spectacular light show? Well, the answer might surprise you! Mars, known for its arid landscapes, does indeed experience storms, but they're not quite like the ones we know on Earth. Let's dive in! This is a fascinating topic for kids of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com.
Our journey begins with a question from Cade, a 7-year-old from Houston, Texas: "Are there thunderstorms on Mars?"
Mars is a planet with very little water in its atmosphere, and hardly any clouds. You might think that means no storms, right? But, get this: there is lightning and thunder on Mars! However, they're not the same as Earth's weather, with no rain and a different kind of "gusto."
Over a decade ago, my colleagues and I made a groundbreaking discovery: we found the first evidence of lightning strikes on Mars. Since then, researchers have continued to explore the mysteries of lightning on the red planet. In November 2025, a Mars rover captured the sounds of lightning sparking on the Martian surface. That is pretty cool, right?
So, how does lightning form on Mars?
On Earth, lightning originates inside massive clouds. But Mars is different. It doesn't have water clouds; instead, it has dust clouds. Without the weight of water, these dust clouds can quickly become colossal, windy dust storms, towering several times higher than Earth's tallest thunderstorms.
Here's where it gets interesting: When smaller dust particles and larger sand particles collide within these storms, they become electrically charged. The smaller dust particles gain a positive charge, while the larger sand particles become negative. The lighter dust particles float higher, and the heavier sand falls closer to the ground.
Because oppositely charged particles are naturally drawn to each other, the energy builds up between the negative and positive charges. Eventually, this energy is released as electricity, similar to lightning on Earth.
The air around the electricity rapidly heats up and expands. On Earth, this creates shock waves that we hear as thunder. But on Mars, nobody has seen a flash of lightning. Instead, it's more like the glow from a neon light, because the Martian atmosphere is about 100 times less dense than Earth's, much like the air inside neon lights.
What about radio waves?
Besides shock waves and visible light, lightning also produces X-ray and radio waves, which the human eye can't see. The ground and the top of the atmosphere conduct electricity well, guiding these radio waves and causing them to produce signals with specific radio frequencies. Scientists can identify the radio waves coming from lightning.
While we haven't seen visible light from Martian lightning, we have heard something similar to the radio waves created by lightning on Earth. That's the noise the Perseverance rover reported at the end of 2025. These sounds, similar to electric sparks, were recorded by the rover's microphone as small, sandy tornadoes passed by.
How do scientists find Martian lightning?
When we began our search for lightning on Mars a decade ago, we knew that the red planet emitted more radio waves during dust storm seasons. So, we searched for increases in radio signals from Mars using the large radio dishes that NASA uses to communicate with its spacecraft. The dishes function like big ears that listen for faint radio signals from spacecraft far from Earth.
We listened to Mars for 5 to 8 hours every day for 3 weeks. We eventually found the signals we were looking for: radio bursts with frequencies that matched the radio waves that lightning on Earth can create.
To pinpoint the source of these lightning-like signals, we searched for dust storms in pictures taken by spacecraft orbiting Mars. We matched a dust storm nearly 25 miles (40 kilometers) tall to the time when we heard the radio signals.
Why is this important?
Learning about lightning on Mars helps scientists understand whether the planet could have once hosted extraterrestrial life. Lightning may have helped create life on Earth by converting molecules of nitrogen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into amino acids. Amino acids make up proteins, tens of thousands of which are found in a human body.
So, while Mars has storms, they're far drier and dustier than Earth's thunderstorms. Scientists are continually studying lightning on Mars to better understand the geology of the red planet and its potential to host living organisms.
What do you think? Does this change how you imagine Mars? Do you think there could be life on Mars? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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