{"id":15084612,"date":"2026-03-23T13:04:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T17:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/stealth-superstorms-reveal-lightning-on-jupiter-beyond-the-superbolt\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T06:05:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:05:53","slug":"stealth-superstorms-reveal-lightning-on-jupiter-beyond-the-superbolt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/stealth-superstorms-reveal-lightning-on-jupiter-beyond-the-superbolt\/","title":{"rendered":"Stealth Superstorms Reveal Lightning on Jupiter: Beyond the Superbolt"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/figure>\n
Source: AGU Advances<\/em><\/a><\/em><\/h5>\n

Jupiter\u2019s lightning has long been of interest to planetary scientists, as it marks stormy spots where researchers can look to learn more about convection in Jupiter\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Observing lightning from a distance can be tricky, so scientists have focused on the bolts that are easiest to study: strong flashes that strike at night. As a result, some studies have concluded that lightning bolts on Jupiter are all similar to the strongest lightning on Earth, known as \u201csuperbolts.\u201d This conclusion was recently questioned, however, when the high-sensitivity star tracker camera on NASA\u2019s Juno<\/a> spacecraft detected faint, shallow lightning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wong et al.<\/em><\/a> took a closer look, focusing on a period in 2021 and 2022 when lightning in Jupiter\u2019s North Equatorial Belt<\/a> was highly localized within powerful, isolated storms the researchers labeled \u201cstealth superstorms.\u201d This unusual meteorology allowed researchers to pinpoint the location of lightning more accurately.<\/p>\n

Instead of looking only at visible light, the scientists used data from the Microwave Radiometer<\/a> instrument and the W<\/a>a<\/a>ves<\/a> experiment\u2014radio wave detectors carried by Juno, which has been orbiting Jupiter for the past 10 years. Radio waves are just one form of electromagnetic radiation produced by lightning, but they\u2019re an especially informative form because scientists can study them even when clouds or other components of the atmosphere block visual cues. The approach allowed the researchers to look beyond the strong nocturnal bolts other researchers have focused on.<\/p>\n

Lightning radio pulses in the stealth superstorms occurred at a rate of three flashes per second, which is similar to flash rates in some previous nightside imaging studies, the researchers report. The strength of these bolts, however, is still up for debate. It\u2019s possible some bolts are similar in intensity to the average bolt found in Earth\u2019s atmosphere. But because of large differences between the radio frequencies of the Jupiter and terrestrial lightning signals analyzed, it\u2019s also possible that some bolts are up to a million times stronger than terrestrial lightning. (AGU Advances<\/em>, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1029\/2025AV002083<\/a>, 2026)<\/p>\n

\u2014Saima May Sidik (@saimamay.bsky.social<\/a>), Science Writer<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n
Citation:<\/strong>\u00a0Sidik, S. M. (2026), Stealth superstorms reveal lightning on Jupiter: Beyond the superbolt,\u00a0Eos, 107, <\/em>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1029\/2026EO260090<\/a>. Published on 23 March 2026.<\/h5>\n
Text \u00a9 2026. AGU.\u00a0CC BY-NC-ND 3.0<\/a>
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.<\/h6>\n

Source: Science \u2013 eos<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the gas giant, the strength and frequency of lightning appear to be more diverse than previously thought.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15087155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15084612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/15084612-jupiter-superstorm-1024x576-1.jpg",1024,576,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/15084612-jupiter-superstorm-1024x576-1-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/15084612-jupiter-superstorm-1024x576-1-620x349.jpg",620,349,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/15084612-jupiter-superstorm-1024x576-1-768x432.jpg",768,432,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/15084612-jupiter-superstorm-1024x576-1-940x529.jpg",940,529,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/15084612-jupiter-superstorm-1024x576-1.jpg",1024,576,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/15084612-jupiter-superstorm-1024x576-1.jpg",1024,576,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/15084612-jupiter-superstorm-1024x576-1-998x576.jpg",998,576,true],"ignition_item":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/15084612-jupiter-superstorm-1024x576-1-670x446.jpg",670,446,true],"ignition_item_lg":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/15084612-jupiter-superstorm-1024x576-1.jpg",1024,576,false],"ignition_article_media":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/15084612-jupiter-superstorm-1024x576-1-510x510.jpg",510,510,true],"ignition_minicart_item":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/15084612-jupiter-superstorm-1024x576-1-160x160.jpg",160,160,true],"profile_24":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/15084612-jupiter-superstorm-1024x576-1.jpg",24,14,false],"profile_48":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/15084612-jupiter-superstorm-1024x576-1.jpg",48,27,false],"profile_96":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/15084612-jupiter-superstorm-1024x576-1.jpg",96,54,false],"profile_150":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/15084612-jupiter-superstorm-1024x576-1.jpg",150,84,false],"profile_300":["https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/15084612-jupiter-superstorm-1024x576-1.jpg",300,169,false]},"author_info":{"display_name":"news.iNthacity","author_link":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/author\/atombo\/"},"category_info":"Travel<\/a>","tag_info":"Travel","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15084612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15084612"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15084612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15087154,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15084612\/revisions\/15087154"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15087155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15084612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15084612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inthacity.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15084612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}