APOD: 2023 June 25 Б Lightning on Jupiter
Explanation:
Does lightning occur only on Earth?
No.
Spacecraft in our Solar System have detected lightning on other planets, including
Mars,
Jupiter and
Saturn,
and lightning is likely on
Venus,
Uranus, and Neptune.
Lightning is a
sudden rush
of electrically charged particles from one location to another.
On Earth, drafts of colliding ice and
water droplets usually create lightning-generating charge separation, but what happens on Jupiter?
Images and data from NASA's
Jupiter-orbiting Juno
spacecraft
bolster previous speculation that
Jovian lightning is also created in clouds containing water and ice.
In the featured Juno photograph, an optical flash was captured in a
large cloud vortex near
Jupiter's north pole.
During the next few months, Juno will perform
several close sweeps over Jupiter's night side, likely allowing the
robotic probe to capture more data and images of
Jovian lightning.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
