Media release

From: Springer Nature

Astronomy: Lightning similarities on Jupiter and Earth

Lightning initiation processes on Jupiter are found to pulsate with a similar rhythm to lightning that occurs inside clouds on Earth, according to a Nature Communications paper. The findings suggest that despite major differences in their size and structure (Jupiter is a gas giant whilst Earth is a rocky planet) some thunderstorm processes may be comparable between the two planets.

Lightning is known to occur on Jupiter, but our knowledge about the fine detail of lightning processes has been limited by the time resolution of previous measurements. Comparing lightning on Earth and Jupiter may improve our understanding of the processes involved; however, this has been challenging so far due to data limitations. Whether lightning initiation processes on Jupiter have similar steps to thunderstorms on Earth is unknown.

Ivana Kolmašová and colleagues analysed approximately five years of high-resolution data acquired by the radio receiver on the Juno spacecraft, which is in a polar orbit about Jupiter. They found that radio pulses on Jupiter occurred with time separations of about one millisecond, suggesting step-like features of lightning initiation similar to observations from thunderstorms on Earth. The results indicate that lightning initiation on Jupiter may be comparable to that of lightning inside clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere.