Your gateway to endless inspiration
Thunderstorms - Blog Posts
Tornado season actually makes me want to crash out - I live in the Southern US, and for my state, 'tornado season' is March to June.
We already had a tornado a few weeks ago (like, 2 weeks tops). Then we had thunderstorms and a tornado risk LAST WEEKEND, and now, we have a freaking tornado watch AGAIN, AND FLOOD WATCHES (probably soon to be warnings) UNTIL *SUNDAY*
Oh the joys of ol' 'tornado alley'
New results from our Juno mission suggest the planet is home to “shallow lightning.” An unexpected form of electrical discharge, shallow lightning comes from a unique ammonia-water solution.
It was previously thought that lightning on Jupiter was similar to Earth, forming only in thunderstorms where water exists in all its phases – ice, liquid, and gas. But flashes observed at altitudes too cold for pure liquid water to exist told a different story. This illustration uses data obtained by the mission to show what these high-altitude electrical storms look like.
Understanding the inner workings of Jupiter allows us to develop theories about atmospheres on other planets and exoplanets!
Illustration Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstädt/Heidi N. Becker/Koji Kuramura
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com