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Lightning is a natural phenomenon formed by electrostatic discharges through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions, either both in the atmosphere or one in the atmosphere and one on the ground, temporarily neutralizing these in a near-instantaneous release of an average of between 200 megajoules and 7 gigajoules of energy, depending on the type.
A lightning strike or lightning bolt is a lightning event in which the electric discharge takes place between the atmosphere and the ground. Most originate in a cumulonimbus cloud and terminate on the ground, called cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning.
Representation of upper-atmospheric lightning and electrical-discharge phenomena Discovery image of a TLE on Jupiter by the NASA Juno probe. [1]Upper-atmospheric lightning and ionospheric lightning are terms sometimes used by researchers to refer to a family of short-lived electrical-breakdown phenomena that occur well above the altitudes of normal lightning and storm clouds.
Typically, lightning discharges 30,000 amperes, at up to 100 million volts, and emits light, radio waves, x-rays and even gamma rays. [1] Plasma temperatures in lightning can approach 28,000 kelvins. Atmospheric electricity describes the electrical charges in the Earth's atmosphere (or that of another planet).
This is extremely important, as Earth’s early atmosphere would’ve been made up of nonreactive N 2 molecules. Lightning was the essential piece needed to create the ingredients essential for ...
This gives Lake Maracaibo the highest number of lightning strikes per square kilometer in the world, at 250. [6] The region with the second-most is the village Kifuka, in the mountains of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, [7] where the elevation is around 1,700 metres (5,600 ft), receives 232 lightning strikes per square kilometer (600 per ...
The lightning may be too far away to discern individual flashes. Smooth channel lightning is an informal term referring to a type of cloud-to-ground lightning strike that has no visible branching and appears like a line with smooth curves as opposed to the jagged appearance of most lightning channels. They are a form of positive lightning ...
Consequently, the current from a strike merely "passes" through the wrapped tube, through the wings and leave the plane. h/t Lonely Planet RELATED: Foods you should never eat on an airplane