Lightning as we know it in air
cannot happen in vacuum
because lightening depends crucially on the generation of positive ions and negative electrons by ionization of molecules of the air in high electric fields (and eventually high temperatures) and the ensuing impact ionization typical for a gas discharge.
Can there be a thunderstorm in space?
So the space environment near Earth is dominated by Earth's magnetic field, but powered by the solar wind. And as in any environment,
there can be disturbances which we can call “storms.”
Storms in the space environment are caused by gusts of solar wind that strike the magnetosphere.
Can electricity run in space?
Electricity doesn't exist in space in the usual way we think about it
, namely electrons flowing in a wire. But that's only because space normally doesn't have wires. If you take something electronic up into space, it will work just fine (as long as you keep it at a normal temperature… space can be super cold).
How fast is lightning in space?
The speed of lightning
While the flashes we see as a result of a lightning strike travel at the speed of light (670,000,000 mph) an actual lightning strike travels at a comparatively gentle
270,000 mph
. This means it would take about 55 minutes to travel to the moon, or around 1.5 seconds to get from London to Bristol.
Do other planets have lightning?
Lightning is found all over the solar system
. Spacecraft have detected extraterrestrial lightning strikes in the clouds of Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus.
What planet has the most powerful lightning?
Saturn
has also produced some of the most spectacular planetary lightning seen to date, including the “Dragon Storm” of 2005 and, in 2013, the largest and most energetic storm ever recorded in the solar system.
How would a normal shower react in space?
On the Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS), astronauts went back to the “old-fashioned” way of bathing in space. On the ISS,
astronauts do not shower but rather use liquid soap, water, and rinseless shampoo
. They squeeze liquid soap and water from pouches onto their skin.
How cold is space?
Hot things move quickly, cold things very slowly. If atoms come to a complete stop, they are at absolute zero. Space is just above that,
at an average temperature of 2.7 Kelvin (about minus 455 degrees Fahrenheit)
.
How is power generated in space?
The ISS electrical system
uses solar cells to directly convert sunlight to electricity
. Large numbers of cells are assembled in arrays to produce high power levels. This method of harnessing solar power is called photovoltaics.
Is there lightning in a black hole?
An international group of researchers, with the participation of Astronomical Observatory of Universitat de València, has discovered the first lightning from a black hole
from the eruption that had the most powerful bright variations in an extragalactic object ever observed until today.
Is there lightning on Mars?
The simple answer to that question is that
yes, there will be some “lightning” on Mars during dust storms or other events with a lot of dust flying around
, but it will not be anywhere near the scale of the storms seen on Earth.
What is red lightning?
Sprites, also known as red lightning, are
electrical discharges that appear as bursts of red light above clouds during thunderstorms
.
Is lightning hotter than the sun?
In fact, lightning can heat the air it passes through to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit (
5 times hotter than the surface of the sun
). When lightning strikes a tree, the heat vaporizes any water in its path possibly causing the tree to explode or a strip of bark to be blown off.
Which country has the most lightning?
In 2021,
Brazil
was the leading country with the highest number of lightning events, which amounted to a sum of 225,607,575 lightning strikes, including both in-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning. Ranking second was the United States, where some 194,549,696 lightning events were recorded that year.
What is the fastest thing in the universe?
Light
travels about 186,270 miles (more than seven times the circumference of Earth) in one second. In modern physics, light is regarded as the fastest thing in the universe, and its velocity in empty space as a fundamental constant of nature.
Does Saturn have lightning?
At Saturn,
there are three types of clouds that might produce lightning
. The top layer is made of ammonia ice; the middle layer is made of a compound of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia; the bottom layer is water. The light has to diffuse up through this cloud system, which is over 100 kilometers (60 miles) thick.
Is there thunder on the moon?
Without a thick atmosphere, the surface of the Moon just doesn't have any appreciable weather and
definitely doesn't have storms
like we have on Earth.
Is there lightning on the Sun?
There's not exactly lightning
. Lightning happens in a medium like the Earth's atmosphere which normally has high electrical resistance. However the Sun's surface is mostly plasma, so electrical charge can flow fairly easily.
Is there a god of lightning?
His name may be related to that of the sky god Dyaus of the ancient Hindu Rigveda.
Zeus was regarded as the sender of thunder and lightning
, rain, and winds, and his traditional weapon was the thunderbolt.
Can you see lightning?
However,
it is possible that you might see lightning and not hear the thunder because it was too far away
. Sometimes this is called “heat lightning” because it occurs most often in the summer.
What is lightning made of?
Lightning is
a discharge of electricity
. A single stroke of lightning can heat the air around it to 30,000°C (54,000°F)! This extreme heating causes the air to expand explosively fast. The expansion creates a shock wave that turns into a booming sound wave, known as thunder.
How do female astronauts deal with their periods?
A combined oral contraceptive, or the pill, used continuously (without taking a week off to induce menstrual flow)
is currently the best and safest choice for astronauts who prefer not to menstruate during missions, says Varsha Jain, a gynecologist and visiting professor at King's College London.
Has anyone lost in space?
A total of 18 people have lost their lives either while in space or in preparation for a space mission, in four separate incidents
. Given the risks involved in space flight, this number is surprisingly low. The two worst disasters both involved NASA's space shuttle.
What do astronauts sleep under?
A crew member sleeps in
a sleeping bag
located in a crew cabin.
What happens if you bleed in space?
In space,
blood can splatter even more than it usually does on Earth, unconstrained by gravity
. Or it can pool into a kind of dome around a wound or incision, making it hard to see the actual trauma. (Fun fact: If you are bleeding more than 100 milliliters per minute, you are probably doomed.
How long is 1 hour in space?
One hour on Earth is
0.0026 seconds
in space.
Why is space dark?
Because space is a near-perfect vacuum — meaning it has exceedingly few particles — there's virtually nothing in the space between stars and planets to scatter light to our eyes
. And with no light reaching the eyes, they see black. —What color is the sunset on other planets?
