Lightning on Jupiter can be 100x stronger than ones on Earth

Link to the science release on UC Berkeley website

New research shows that lightning on Jupiter can be more than 100 times stronger than lightning on Earth. Scientists analyzed data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft, which has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016. Using a microwave radiometer, they detected radio signals from lightning that are not blocked by clouds, allowing more accurate measurements of its power.

Jupiter’s atmosphere is mostly hydrogen, unlike Earth’s nitrogen-rich air. This difference makes moist air heavier on Jupiter, so storms require much more energy to rise. When they do, they release large amounts of energy, producing intense lightning and strong winds. Some storms, called “stealth superstorms,” helped researchers measure lightning more precisely because they occurred in isolation.

During several flybys, Juno detected hundreds of lightning pulses, with some flashes reaching at least 100 times the power of Earth’s lightning, and possibly much higher. On Earth, a single lightning bolt releases about one billion joules of energy, but Jupiter’s bolts may release up to thousands of times more.

Studying Jupiter’s lightning helps scientists better understand thunderstorms on Earth, including rare electrical events in the upper atmosphere, and improves knowledge of how storms form and behave across different planetary environments.

This illustration uses data obtained by NASA’s Juno mission to depict high-altitude electrical storms on Jupiter.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstädt/Heidi N. Becker/Koji Kuramura