NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured an amazing image of a lighting flash on Jupiter during its 31st close flyby of the gas giant. Lightning bolts typically originate from water clouds on Earth, and they happen most frequently near the equator, while Jupiter’s occur in clouds containing an ammonia-water solution.
The original image was taken on Dec. 30, 2020, but in 2022, citizen scientist Kevin M. Gill processed the raw data from the JunoCam instrument aboard the spacecraft. Juno was approximately 19,900 miles above Jupiter’s cloud tops, at a latitude of about 78°, when this photo was taken.
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In the coming months, Juno’s orbits will repeatedly take it close to Jupiter as the spacecraft passes over the giant planet’s night side, which will provide even more opportunities for Juno’s suite of science instruments to catch lightning in the act,” said NASA.
