Jupiter Unleashes Lightning Bolts So Intense They Dwarf Anything Seen On Earth
While Earth’s lightning usually occurs in nitrogen-dominated air where moisture is relatively light, Jupiter’s atmosphere is dense hydrogen. And since hydrogen is much heavier than nitrogen, it takes an immense amount of energy for moist air to rise through the Jovian clouds. When these updrafts finally break through, they do so with violent force, creating storms that tower over 100 kilometers high (ten times of Earth's). The resulting electrical discharges are so potent that researchers are now estimating some single pulses could power 200 average homes for an hour, with the largest potentially packing 10,000 times the energy of an Earth bolt.
These findings, published this week by scientists at UC Berkeley, come from Juno’s microwave radiometer, which listens for the radio interference of lightning through thick cloud layers. Unlike previous missions that could only detect bright flashes on the planet’s night side, Juno’s instruments have allowed scientists to see the full spectrum of Jovian weather. They discovered that while Jupiter does have smaller, Earth-like flickers, it is the giant stealth pulses that dominate. These pulses are often associated with ammonia "mushballs," or slushy hailstones of water and ammonia, that churn through the atmosphere, generating massive static charges.
Sadly, despite discoveries like this, the mission responsible for them faces an uncertain future. NASA is currently navigating a period of intense budgetary scrutiny, and Juno has been repeatedly cited as a candidate for decommissioning to free up funds for newer projects. The spacecraft, which has been orbiting the gas giant since 2016, is now in its extended mission phase, operating well beyond its original design life.
Just as Juno begins to decode some of the mysteries of the gas giant’s interior, its eyes may soon be forced shut. For now, the probe continues its lonely vigil, diving close to the cloud tops every few weeks to capture data that redefines our understanding of planetary science.
This NASA-funded UC Berkeley research was led by planetary scientist Michael Wong, and co-authored by Berkeley postdoctoral fellow Ramanakumar Sankar and a team from the U.S., Czechia and Japan.
Main photo credit: NASA/JPL
