Lightning on Jupiter: NASA finally discovers why it's there, and how bolts are similar to Earth's

Ashley May | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption 6 spectacular Jupiter findings from NASA's Juno Catch the sights and sounds NASA's Juno space probe captured as it orbited Jupiter.

NASA's space probe Juno might have just cracked the code on Jupiter's mysterious lightning.

In the data from Juno’s first eight passes by the planet, the spacecraft’s Microwave Radiometer Instrument (MWR) detected 377 Jovian lightning discharges. Scientists saw that lightning on Jupiter can be as frequent as it is on Earth.

"The similarities we see in their thunderstorms are rather astounding," study co-author William Kurth, a space scientist at the University of Iowa, told astronomy news website Space.com.

The findings, published in Nature Wednesday, also suggest some differences in Jupiter's lightning compared to Earth's — mainly the location.

"Jupiter lightning distribution is inside out relative to Earth,” Juno scientist and lead author of the paper Shannon Brown said in a statement. “There is a lot of activity near Jupiter’s poles but none near the equator. You can ask anybody who lives in the tropics — this doesn’t hold true for our planet.”

The information suggests Jupiter's lightning might be connected to the planet's source of heat. Because of Jupiter’s distance from the sun, it sees 25 times less sunlight than Earth. Most of the Jupiter’s heat is generated within the planet itself, NASA notes, and heats its equator more than the poles.

Brown said these findings could help scientists' understand how energy flows on Jupiter.

Lightning was first recorded on Jupiter when NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft flew past the planet in 1979 and recorded very low-frequency radio emissions. Until now, there's been no explanation for the bolts.

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