lightning

Lightning strikes on Earth can trigger electron showers

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Lightning streaks from clouds to the Manhattan skyline, all reflected in a foreground body of water.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Alexander Krivenyshev from Manhattan, New York, captured these spectacular lightning strikes on June 26, 2024. Thank you, Alexander! A new study says lightning strikes on Earth can trigger electron showers from beyond Earth’s atmosphere. The Van Allen radiation belts are donut shaped regions of high-energy particles that circle Earth. … Read more

“It’s like taking a picture of lightning:” How astronomers raced to track the smallest asteroid ever seen

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Astronomer Teddy Kareta had spent countless nights over the years observing various objects across our solar system using Arizona’s Lowell Discovery Telescope, or LDT. On Nov. 19, 2022, he set his alarm to ring shortly before midnight, in preparation for what he presumed would be a quiet observing night — and woke up to missed … Read more