UNITED STATES: In May 2018, scientists captured a “gigantic jet” lightning strike lingering over a thunderstorm in Oklahoma. This lightning strike was so intense that it carried 100 times more energy than the typical thunderstorm lightning strike and travelled 50 miles into the atmosphere, which is not far from the official outer-space limit, which is a bizarre thing.
According to sources, even though it wasn’t the first of its sort to be seen, it turned out to be twice as powerful as the previous one and because of their rarity, they continue to be somewhat mysterious to scientists today.
Fortunately, Georgia Tech researchers could get a close-up look at the geometry of the monster bolt thanks to advanced mapping tools, providing them with insightful information about the event. The tremendous incident was captured by multiple devices, an extremely rare occurrence.
Levi Boggs, a research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute and co-author of a recent publication in the journal Science Advances, claimed, “Using extremely high-quality data, we were able to map this massive jet in three dimensions. With this level of clarity, we could see very high frequency (VHF) sources above the cloud top that we had never seen before.” “Particularly above the cloud line, scientists are just beginning to comprehend the architecture of these enormous jets. “We still don’t fully understand the phenomenon.”
First, we are unsure of the purpose of the jet’s initial launch into orbit. According to the researchers, the thunderclouds may be dispersing an accumulation of negative charge into space.
They discovered that these frequencies were emitted by tiny “streamers,” 400°F plasma strips, but the highest electric currents originated from “leaders,” considerably hotter regions that can reach temperatures of over 8,000°F. Now, Boggs and his colleagues are looking into whether these unusual occurrences might impact how low-Earth orbiting satellites to function.
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