New observations from a retrofitted U2 spy plane reveal a surprising amount and variety of gamma radiation is produced in large tropical thunderstorms.
New observations from a retrofitted U2 spy plane reveal a surprising amount and variety of gamma radiation is produced in large tropical thunderstorms.
In the 1990s, NASA satellites built to spot high-energy particles coming from supernovas and other celestial-sized objects discovered a surprise — high energy gamma radiation bursts coming from right here on Earth.
While it didn’t take long for researchers to figure out that these radioactive supercharged particles were coming from thunderstorms, how commonly the phenomenon happened remained a mystery. Satellites weren’t built to find gamma radiation coming from Earth, and they had to be in just the right place at just the right time to do so.
After years of making do with platforms not ideal for the task, a group of scientists secured an opportunity to fly a retrofitted U2 spy plane owned by NASA over storms to take a proper look. In two new papers published October 3 in Nature, the team discovered that gamma radiation produced in thunderstorms is far more common than anyone thought and that the dynamics creating the radiation hold a treasure trove of mysteries yet to be solved.
Read more at Duke University
Photo Credit: jplenio via Pixabay
