The highest ever thundercloud of 1.3 billion volts is observed

Is it the residence of the thunder god Indra?

Indian scientists have successfully observed thunderclouds with the highest voltage ever. It seems that the subatomic particle muon (muon), which we do not usually hear, promotes the phenomenon.

Telescope with a resolution of 169 pixels

This phenomenon was observed by the GRAPES-3 telescope (Gamma Ray Astronomy PeV EnergieS 3rd), which was installed to observe high-energy cosmic rays such as muons. Muons are similar to electrons, but heavier.

The telescope looks up at the sky divided into 13x13 grids and observes 2.5 million muons per minute. However, when a thundercloud arrives, the amount of muons changes rapidly, so the observation station added an electric field monitor for experiments and used it as a telescope to observe the voltage generated in the thundercloud from the observation of the fluctuation of muons. I did.

Mechanism of generating voltage and gamma rays

According to PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, for example, in the storm that occurred in December 2014, muons decreased by 2%. This is believed to mean that the cumulonimbus contained a potential equivalent to 1.3 billion volts.

However, it does not mean that a single lightning bolt is 130 million volts. It is the strength of the electric field generated by the accumulation of positively and negatively charged water above and below the clouds due to retention. By the way, most of the lightning bolts have a voltage of 100 million volts between the cloud and the tip. The subway tracks are about 1,000 volts or less, so you can see that the voltage is really an order of magnitude.

The 1.3 billion volt thundercloud was ten times higher than the highest ever observed on Earth. If it is so high, it can cause a high-energy phenomenon called "Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs)", which was the source of terrestrial gamma-ray radiation. It may lead to elucidation.

Guessing value

The point is that this model doesn't fit into every storm and requires human guessing for the situation. Michael Cherry, a professor of physics at Louisiana State University, told APS physics:

On top of that, he recommends an improvement method, saying, "If you fly a balloon or a drone, you will be able to measure the thundercloud model more accurately."

Not well understood yet

TGF is thought to be caused by thunderclouds, but the gamma-ray astronomical satellite AGILE has never recorded a thundercloud powerful enough to generate gamma rays. But 1.3 billion volts is such a powerful number that a causal link could be revealed.

It's still uncertain, but if the model's accuracy is proven, this thundercloud will be the hottest in the world. If this is something that can be discharged nearby, it will die from factors other than electric shock.

Source: PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, APS physics, AGILE