2023-05-26 20:27:23
26MAY
Lightning comes to life and develops on Jupiter
A new study finds that lightning comes alive and develops on Jupiter in the same way it does on Earth.
Jovian lightning, which occurs as frequently as the phenomenon on Earth, was first spotted by NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft more than 40 years ago. At that time, the probe picked up faint radio signals lasting several seconds – called whistles – that were expected from lightning strikes.
At the time, this electrical spark confirmed that Jupiter was the only other planet besides Earth known to boast lightning strikes. But its evolution in the gaseous world has puzzled scientists for decades.
Now, a team of astronomers from the Czech Republic, Japan and the United States, by studying five years of data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft, which has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016, has found that Jupiter’s lightning occurs in the same “step by step” way as it does on Earth. .
And the new observations show that although our rocky planet is much smaller than Jupiter and has a solid surface that the gas giant lacks, they both host the same type of electrical storms.
They discovered that lightning tends to strike through clouds in similar ways to lightning within clouds on Earth. They also found that lightning tends to propagate through clouds at a speed similar to that on Earth.
By comparing the dynamics of lightning strikes on both planets, the team also found evidence that these lightnings may branch and extend in similar ways to those on Earth. Scientists have suggested that if this is the case, it may have implications for scientists searching for life on other, more habitable planets.
(Russia Today)
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