Baines Kevin H, Simon-Miller Amy A, Orton Glenn S, Weaver Harold A, Lunsford Allen, Momary Thomas W, Spencer John, Cheng Andrew F, Reuter Dennis C, Jennings Donald E, Gladstone G R, Moore Jeffrey, Stern S Alan, Young Leslie A, Throop Henry, Yanamandra-Fisher Padma, Fisher Brendan M, Hora Joseph, Ressler Michael E
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena CA 91109, USA.
Science. 2007 Oct 12;318(5848):226-9. doi: 10.1126/science.1147912.
Although lightning has been seen on other planets, including Jupiter, polar lightning has been known only on Earth. Optical observations from the New Horizons spacecraft have identified lightning at high latitudes above Jupiter up to 80 degrees N and 74 degrees S. Lightning rates and optical powers were similar at each pole, and the mean optical flux is comparable to that at nonpolar latitudes, which is consistent with the notion that internal heat is the main driver of convection. Both near-infrared and ground-based 5-micrometer thermal imagery reveal that cloud cover has thinned substantially since the 2000 Cassini flyby, particularly in the turbulent wake of the Great Red Spot and in the southern half of the equatorial region, demonstrating that vertical dynamical processes are time-varying on seasonal scales at mid- and low latitudes on Jupiter.
尽管在包括木星在内的其他行星上都曾观测到闪电，但极地闪电仅在地球上被知晓。“新视野号”航天器的光学观测已在木星北纬80度至南纬74度的高纬度地区识别出闪电。两极的闪电发生率和光功率相似，且平均光通量与非极地纬度地区相当，这与内热是对流的主要驱动力这一观点相符。近红外和地面5微米热成像均显示，自2000年“卡西尼号”飞越木星以来，云层覆盖已大幅变薄，尤其是在大红斑的湍流尾迹以及赤道区域的南半部，这表明木星中低纬度地区的垂直动力过程在季节尺度上是随时间变化的。
