Visible lightning imaged on Saturn
Geophysical Research Letters, 15 May 2010, Editors' Highlights
Lightning, common on Earth, has also been detected on Jupiter, and previous studies have reported indirect evidence for lightning on Saturn. Visible lightning has now been imaged on Saturn for the first time. Dyudina et al. report that on 17 August 2009, the Cassini spacecraft detected visible lightning flashes on Saturn. It had been difficult to get images of lightning because Saturn's nights are very bright due to its highly reflective rings shining in the sky, which make it hard to visually distinguish lightning. The recent equinox, during which most of the rings were in shadow, made it possible to image lightning flashes.
The researchers report that the lightning flashes are consistent with a single cloud flashing once per minute, and the visible energy of a single flash is comparable to that on Earth and Jupiter. They also note that the storm that produced the visible lightning had been active for nine months, much longer than storms on Earth or Jupiter. The study could help scientists better understand the formation and characteristics of lightning on Saturn and other planets.
Visible lightning imaged on Saturn