Lightning on Jupiter could be up to 1 million times stronger than on Earth
By Charles Q. Choi
Published on March 26, 2026.
A study by the University of California at Berkeley has found that lightning on Jupiter may be up to 1 million times stronger than on Earth, according to the study. The largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter, has large storms that last for centuries. The study used data from NASA's Juno mission, which began orbiting Jupiter in 2016, which could detect weaker, Earth-like flashes. The problem with night-side imaging of Jupiter can obscure the view of lightning flashes, which can make their true power difficult to estimate. The researchers used data gathered from Juno's core instrument to detect radio emissions from Jupiter's lightning. They found that Jupiter often experiences multiple storms at the same time, which made it difficult to pinpoint which storm produced any lightning Juno detected. The scientists suggested that Jupiter's storms are more powerful due to the different types of hydrogen and nitrogen atmospheres on the planet.
Read Original Article