木星的闪电

2023年6月25日

Lightning on Jupiter
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; Processing & License: Kevin M. Gill

Explanation: Does lightning occur only on Earth? No. Spacecraft in our Solar System have detected lightning on other planets, including Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, and lightning is likely on Venus, Uranus, and Neptune. Lightning is a sudden rush of electrically charged particles from one location to another. On Earth, drafts of colliding ice and water droplets usually create lightning-generating charge separation, but what happens on Jupiter? Images and data from NASA’s Jupiter-orbiting Juno spacecraft bolster previous speculation that Jovian lightning is also created in clouds containing water and ice. In the featured Juno photograph, an optical flash was captured in a large cloud vortex near Jupiter’s north pole. During the next few months, Juno will perform several close sweeps over Jupiter’s night side, likely allowing the robotic probe to capture more data and images of Jovian lightning.

Tomorrow’s picture: mountains below venus

木星的闪电
影像提供: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS; 影像处理与版权: Kevin M. Gill

说明: 地球是唯一有闪电的行星吗？不是。探索太阳系的多艘太空船，已在火星、木星及土星等行星侦测到闪电，此外，金星、天王星及海王星可能也有闪电。闪电是带电粒子在二个区域之间急遽流动所产生的现象。在地球上，一波波有互撞冰粒及小水滴的涌升流，通常是造成电荷分离进而产生闪电的关键，然而，木星的闪电是怎么来的？绕行木星的朱诺号宇宙飞船的所取得的影像和数据，进一步支持木星的闪电亦是由含水及冰的云所产生的之揣测。在这幅由朱诺号所拍摄的主题照片里，可看到出现在木星北极大涡旋云的光学亮闪。在接下来的数个月里，朱诺号将进行数次木星夜面的近距离飞越，届时朱诺号或许可取得更多木星的闪电数据与影像。

明日的图片: mountains below venus