A flash of green: NASA's Juno spacecraft captures image of lightning on Jupiter

NASA's Juno spacecraft is a gift that keeps on giving. Looping around Jupiter - the largest planet in our solar system, Juno recently captured an incredible shot of the greenish glow from a lightning strike inside a swirling vortex near the planet's north pole.

The images released by NASA have been taken 19,900 miles (32,000 kilometres) above the planet's cloud top. The image is expected to help scientists better understand how massive storms and lightning and lightning-like events occur on the gas giant.

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"Juno captured this view as Juno completed its 31st close flyby of Jupiter on Dec. 30, 2020. At the time the raw image was taken, Juno was about 19,900 miles (32,000 kilometres) above Jupiter’s cloud tops, at a latitude of about 78 degrees as it approached the planet," NASA said in a statement.

Unlike Earth where lightning bolts originate from water clouds and mostly occur near the equator, strikes on Jupiter emerge from the clouds made up of ammonia and water. They mostly occur near the poles of the planet.

Lightning in planets of solar system

Lightning has been observed on other gas planets of the solar system - Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Scientists have some evidence of lightning in the clouds of the planet Venus, however, it is still an issue of debate.

Various studies have detailed similarities in the lightning processes on Earth and Jupiter. For instance, lightning rates on both planets are similar although the distribution of lightning on the giant planet differs from that of Earth.

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Juno's future endeavours

Juno, which has been roaming near Jupiter since 2016 has already completed more than 50 flybys and made close passes by three of the planet's largest moons.

The scientists associated with the spacecraft say they will be unearthing more fascinating discoveries in the coming months as the mission gets much closer to Jupiter's surface.

“Our upcoming flybys in July and October will bring us even closer, leading up to our twin flyby encounters with Io in December of this year and February of next year, when we fly within 1,500 kilometers of its surface,” Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator was quoted as saying by CNN.

Notably, Juno's orbit around Jupiter is shifting closer over time, allowing scientists more opportunities to keep a close eye on the planet. The spacecraft is expected to go between some of Jupiter's rings as well which will help learn more about their origin and composition.

(With inputs from agencies)

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