[imagesource: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/A. Smith]

Spectators on the ground can enjoy quite a show from thunderstorms, but beyond the clouds is where the real action is to be found.

Scientists have gathered new information to describe in detail an incredibly rare atmospheric phenomenon known as “gigantic jets”, which are essentially bursts of electrical energy that are thrown from storm clouds into the ionosphere (the low end of space) and not down to the ground.

Most astonishingly, there have been new insights thanks to a particularly powerful gigantic jet of lightning from a thunderstorm in Oklahoma, 80 kilometres above Earth’s surface, delivering the largest charge transfer to space on record, per VICE.

Most lightning bolts carry fewer than five coulombs (a measurement of charge), but this jet transferred a gobsmacking 300 coulombs to the ionosphere when it struck on May 14, 2018.

In layman’s terms, the dizzying event blasted energy equivalent to 60 regular lightning bolts upwards into space, reported New Atlas:

Image: Chris Holmes

This video is from a different gigantic jet, but it gives you an idea of how they look in action:

SciTech Daily noted that the upward discharge included relatively cool (approximately 200 degrees Celsius) streamers of plasma, as well as structures called leaders that are very hot – more than 4 400 degrees Celsius.

Because the transient event of gigantic jets is so difficult to witness – not to mention how elusive they are, striking around 1 000 to 50 000 times each year – the science around them has been rocky, with a lot of unanswered questions.

But this jet, captured by a nearby citizen scientist, has provided details about these mysterious upward strikes, which have “broad implications to lightning physics beyond that of gigantic jets,” according to a study published last week in Science Advances.

Levi Boggs, a research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute and the paper’s corresponding author, has been boggled by how this jet emerged from “unusual circumstances” in a “unique thundercloud”:

“Usually gigantic jets occur from tropical storms near the equator that have really tall cloud tops (18 km) that penetrate into the stratosphere and associated cloud top turbulence, but this event occurred in the middle of the continental U.S. and had relatively low cloud tops (14 km) with little cloud top turbulence,” Boggs said.

The extreme lightning event has revealed insights about possibly scrambling spacecraft operations:

“Since these events connect with the lower edge of space, and transfer charge to that region, they could potentially have effects on space weather which could affect communications and electromagnetic signals between ground and satellites in orbit,” Boggs said.

If you want to get really into the nitty-gritty of it all, this video should do the trick:

Don’t worry, these mysterious transient luminous events are unlikely to strike a plane flying from place to place as pilots typically avoid flying over storms.

Although, it is not entirely impossible.

[sources:vice&scitechdaily]