NASA scientists say observations of an unusual phenomenon in the atmosphere of Mars have been confirmed, according to findings detailed in a new study.
The unexpected discovery was made possible with data from the American space agency’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission.
This story begins in 2023, when something very unexpected turned up in MAVEN data: NASA scientists observed what appeared to be an atmospheric effect known to occur here on Earth but never seen in Mars’ comparatively thinner atmosphere.
Based on data collected with MAVEN’s suite of instruments, the phenomenon—known as the Zwan-Wolf effect—occurs when charged particles end up being projected out of magnetic structures that atmospheric scientists call flux tubes. The resulting effect, which has been known to occur here on Earth for several decades, is beneficial because it is associated with the deflection of the solar wind around the planet.
“Very Interesting Wiggles”
For researchers like Christopher Fowler, the discovery of anything comparable to this odd atmospheric quirk anyplace other than Earth would have been the last thing he expected to find.
However, that’s precisely what occurred as he began digging into the MAVEN data.
“When investigating the data, I all of a sudden noticed some very interesting wiggles,” Fowler recently said.
As a research assistant professor at West Virginia University in Morgantown, Fowler was admittedly perplexed by what he discovered.
“I would never have guessed it would be this effect,” he said, “since it’s never been seen in a planetary atmosphere before.”
Now, Fowler is the lead author of the recent study that helped confirm its presence in the Martian atmosphere.
An Unlikely Discovery
One reason the discovery seemed so unlikely is the thinness of the Martian atmosphere compared to Earth’s. Mars lacks the global magnetic field our planet has, which significantly influences how solar winds and other space weather phenomena impact the planet.
Despite such conditions, confirmation of the Zwan-Wolf effect within a particle-rich region of the Martian atmosphere below 200 kilometers revealed that these charged particles were being squeezed in the same way as flux tubes do in our atmosphere, thereby spreading these charged bits of matter throughout the Red Planet’s atmosphere.
According to the team’s findings, they now believe that the Martian magnetosphere, which often changes with solar weather, likely indicates that the Zwan-Wolf effect is constantly at work in the planet’s atmosphere.
However, the effect is mostly undetectable by MAVEN’s instruments. That wasn’t the case in 2023, when space weather events recorded at that time appear to have amplified the effect enough that the NASA spacecraft’s sensors were able to observe it for the first time.
A Martian Swan-Wolf Effect is Confirmed
Still, the initial information the MAVEN team obtained was subtle. Fowler says it amounted to little more than a few notable fluctuations in magnetic field measurements, collected as MAVEN passed through the Martian atmosphere.
Taking a closer look at these “interesting” readings revealed an unexpected surprise, which they ultimately determined to be the same Zwan-Wolf effect known from decades-old studies of Earth’s atmosphere.
“No one expected that this effect could even occur in the atmosphere,” Fowler said of the discovery.
Although the presence of this effect is well-characterized on Earth, understanding its dynamics in Mars’ atmosphere could provide meaningful insights into the forces that drive it elsewhere, including unmagnetized regions like those surrounding planet Venus and moons like Titan.
Additionally, the team believes their work could help to better characterize the changes induced by space weather events and how they can thereby alter the environment on planets like Mars.
“That’s what makes this even more exciting,” Fowler added. “It introduces interesting physics that we haven’t yet explored and a new way the Sun and space weather can change the dynamics in the Martian atmosphere.”
The team’s new study, “Detection of Zwan-Wolf effect in the ionosphere of Mars,” appeared in Nature Communications on May 18, 2026.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.