NASA’s Juno Spacecraft Captures Striking Lightning on Jupiter, Image Goes Viral

A lightning bolt illuminating near Jupiter’s north pole has been observed and confirmed by NASA, who released an image captured during the Juno spacecraft’s mission orbiting the planet. The image, processed by citizen scientist Kevin M. Gill using raw data from NASA’s JunoCam instrument, was taken in December 2020 during the spacecraft’s 31st close flyby of Jupiter.

According to NASA, this event occurred in 2022 when Juno was positioned at an altitude of approximately 19,900 miles (32,000 kilometers) above Jupiter’s cloud tops. The spacecraft was located at a latitude of about 78 degrees as it approached the planet.

NASA explained that lightning bolts on Earth originate from water clouds near the equator, while on Jupiter, lightning likely occurs within clouds containing an ammonia-water solution.

Scientists state that the data received from the spacecraft is providing valuable insights into the similarities between lightning processes on Jupiter and Earth, despite the significant differences between the two planets.

Notably, lightning is considered as the most powerful naturally occurring electrical source on out planet.

According to planetary scientist Ivana Kolmasova, Lightning is an electric discharge which is initiated inside thunderclouds. “The ice and water particles inside the cloud get charged by collisions and form layers of particles with the charge of the same polarity,” she said. Kolmasova is a planetary scientist in Czech Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Prague. She is also a lead author of the study published this week in the journal Nature Communications.

“By this process, a huge electric field is established and the discharge can be initiated. This explanation is somewhat simplified because scientists are still not completely sure what is exactly happening inside thunderclouds,” Kolmasova added.

Jupiter, the fifth planet from the sun, is predominantly made up of hydrogen and helium, along with small amounts of other gases. Its vibrant appearance is characterized by prominent stripes and occasional storms. With a diameter of approximately 88,850 miles (143,000 km), Jupiter is a colossal celestial body.

Since 2016, the Juno spacecraft has been in orbit around Jupiter, collecting valuable data about the planet’s atmosphere, internal structure, magnetic field, and the surrounding region influenced by its magnetic properties.