In shots from Nasa's Perseverence rover on Mars, the skies are usually clear or fogged by dust storms. As it explores the Jazero Crater, the probe's SuperCam has now recorded evidence of a phenomenon familiar on planet Earth: lightning.

A team of researchers from France analysed 28 hours of microphone recordings made by the Nasa rover over two Martian years (or 1,374 Earth days). They found that electrical discharges were normally associated with dust devils and dust storm fronts. Dust devils are small whirlwinds that form from hot air rising from the ground, and their internal movements can give rise to electrical discharges.

The dust devils have been captured on camera, but not the flash of electricity—the detection was the result of "electromagnetic and acoustic signatures". Below, a

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