2023-06-18 05:25:56
Citizen scientist Kevin M. Gill processed the image from the raw data
NASA’s Juno spacecraft detected a flash of lightning near Jupiter’s north pole. The space agency has released an image of Jupiter. The spacecraft captured this image on December 20, 2020, when Juno completed its 31st close flyby of Jupiter.
According to the press release NASAIn the year 2022, citizen scientist Kevin M. Image generation was processed from raw data from the spacecraft’s Juno cam instrument. At the time the original image was taken, Juno was about 19,900 miles (32,000 kilometers) above Jupiter’s cloud tops, at a latitude of about 78 degrees as it approached the planet.
Explaining lightning on Jupiter, NASA notes that lightning on Earth originates from water clouds and occurs most often near the equator, while lightning on Jupiter also occurs in clouds that contain an ammonia water solution and can be seen more often. near the poles.
According to scientists, the data obtained by Juno provides new information about how similar lightning operations on Jupiter are to those on Earth, despite the huge differences between the two planets.
Lightning is the most powerful natural source of electricity on Earth.
Planetary scientist Ivana Kolemazova of the Czech Academy of Sciences said: “Lightning is an electrical discharge that starts inside thunderclouds. The ice and water particles inside the cloud become charged by collision and form layers of particles with the same polarity.” The Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Prague is the lead author of the study, which was published this week in the journal Nature Communications.
Kolmazova added: “Through this process, a large electric field can be created and a discharge can begin. This explanation is somewhat simplistic because scientists still don’t fully understand what exactly is going on inside thunderclouds.”
Jupiter is made primarily of hydrogen and helium, with traces of other gases. The colorful appearance of Jupiter, the fifth planet from the Sun and about 88,850 miles (143,000 km) in diameter, is dominated by streaks and a few storms.
Juno has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016, obtaining information about its atmosphere, internal structure, internal magnetic field, and inner magnetosphere.
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