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APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Lightning on Earth
Explanation: Nobody knows what causes lightning. It is known that charges slowly separate in some clouds causing rapid electrical discharges (lightning), but how electrical charges get separated in clouds remains a topic of much research. Nevertheless, lightning bolts are common in clouds during rainstorms, and on average 6000 lightning bolts occur between clouds and the Earth every minute. Above , several lightning strokes were photographed under a starry sky behind Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona . Lightning has also been found on the planets Jupiter , Saturn , and Uranus . NASA launched the TRMM mission in 1997 that continues to measure rainfall and lightning on planet Earth .
| Date | August 18, 2004 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit & Copyright: Elizabeth Warner ( U. Maryland ) |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |