The Juno mission located in the planet Jupiter for exploration, has found a particular phenomenon within its atmosphere that has surprised the scientists of the NASA.
These are unexpected electrical discharges that originate from clouds that contain an ammonia water solution.
The find was baptized as “surface lightning” and in this video recreated by animation, NASA seeks to demonstrate how it works.
Another find
Among the new data from Juno is also the presence of violent electrical storms in the gas giant, also known for forming ammonia-rich hailstones nicknamed “mushballs.” This phenomenon is believed to transport ammonia and water from the upper atmosphere into the depths of Jupiter’s atmosphere.
This particular phenomenon generates powerful storms that hurl water ice crystals high in that planet’s atmosphere, more than 16 miles (25 kilometers) above Jupiter’s water clouds, where they encounter atmospheric ammonia vapor that melts the ice, forming a new ammonia water solution, signals a release from the US space agency.
Investigation details
“The close flyby of the Juno clouds allowed us to see something surprising, smaller, shallower flares, originating at much higher altitudes in Jupiter’s atmosphere than previously thought possible,” said Heidi Becker, who heads the Juno radiation monitoring research at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and lead author of the journal Nature.
“At these altitudes, ammonia acts as an antifreeze, lowering the melting point of water ice and allowing a liquid water-ammonia cloud to form. In this new state, falling drops of ammonia water liquid can collide with water ice crystals and electrify clouds. This was a big surprise, as ammonia water clouds do not exist on Earth, “he added.
The new data revealed by this mission will be expanded in the coming days by the specialized journal Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.
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