Lightning Storms on Saturn

Millions of miles away from Earth, a lightning storm has been occurring in Saturn's atmosphere. This storm, which has been going on for 7.5 months, has broke the record for the longest known lightning storm in the solar system. The spacecraft Cassini has recorded nine storms since its orbit began July 2004. The storms have been giving off powerful radio waves. An astronomer from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, George Fischer, presented his observation of the storms. He said, "These lightning storms are not only astonishing for their power and longevity, the radio waves that they emit are also useful for studying Saturn's ionosphere, the charged layer that surrounds the planet a few thousand kilometers above the cloud tops," Fischer said. "The radio waves have to cross the ionosphere to get to Cassini and thereby act as a natural tool to probe the structure of the layer and the levels of ionization in different regions." So, some scientific benefit is coming from these storms and that is always a good thing.

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