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Positive leader, upward, produced a flash, the landing gamma, the landing, extends from a TV broadcast tower. | Credit: Yuki Wada
The most powerful explosions in the universe known from what is known as gamma-ray bursts-although they may not look particularly exciting, scientists usually talk about these amazing explosions of electromagnetic radiation in the same stars that collapse the giant and black holes.
We have indexed a good number of these events Since the 1960sAnd even use it to help us Understand more about the enemies of Galaxy SuperBut one specific type Gamma rays of the explosion It remains somewhat from mystery. It is called the Gamma Flash (TGF), and explodes inside thunderstorms land Hundreds of feet above our heads.
Yuki Wada, a professor at the University of Osaka in Japan, studies TGFS for years. It is the main author in a new study that studies the mysterious relationship between TGFS and lightning screws – according to this study, TGF scientists have observed coinciding with the discharge of lightning that arose from the collision of leaders, which directs the lighting flow, from the opposite directions.
“TGFS is one of the most active natural phenomena in the air,” Wada told Space.com. WADA’s work focuses on high energy phenomena in lightning flashes and Thunderclouds.
To collect data about Lightning to study, the team traveled for two hours to the north from Osaka to the city of Kanazawa on the beach, located in Ishikawa Governorate on the northern coast of Honshu, the Japanese main island.
“We have prepared a monitoring network on TV transmission towers in Kanazawa,” said Wada. Researchers used a “multi -sensor setting on the latest model” that can discover visual radiation, radio frequency and high energy.
The multiple sensors they made were the first world, and the chief author Harrovomi Tsuchia He said In a statement, and that a mixture of sensors helped them learn more about the TGFS mechanism.
However, conducting the search for study was difficult – Wada said it required little luck – as the study relied on the ability to monitor lightning screws during work. “It is difficult to predict lightning now,” said Wada. “Therefore, there is a risk of extensive notes because the detection ranges are limited.”
“There was a risk not to discover anything,” he added. “Fortunately, we discovered TGF with the full network.”
Gamma rays are merged into thunderstorms
Scientists know that thunderstorms emit very short TGFS, as well as longer gamma rays, which can last from minutes to hours. But thunderstorms still carry their puzzle share.
Strong currents of air in thunderstorms can cause air, water up and down very quickly. When this happens, ice crystals begin to collide within the air currents, causing electrons dumping and generating a lightning electric field.
While scientists believe that under specific circumstances, TGFs arises from lightning discharge during thunderstorms, but they still do not understand the exact relationship between the two.
“TGFS has been discovered mostly by satellites, and details on how to produce Lightning gamma rays are still a mystery,” said Wada. “Our observation on the ground gives us an idea to understand TGFS.”
Using sensors on transmission towers, researchers discovered a snapshot of lightning drainage along two roads. One path of Thundercloud came to the transmission tower. The other path rose in the opposite direction.
The researchers noticed TGF directly before the discharge tracks and the creation of a very focused electric field. The researchers say that accelerating the electrons that were launched across the air to the speed of the light.
One second contains one million microciated. The team scored the first photon of TGF 31 only MicroseCond before the tracks are met. The full explosion lasted 20 microscopic after the tracks formed a thunderbolt.
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This new study follows the previous work that moves in TGFS from a number of scientific organizations, including the NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). In August 2023, NASA pilots flew to thunderstorms On a highly high scientific plane to collect data on TGFS.
In May 2019, the European Space Agency was created The first picture ever for TGFWhich originated from a thunderstorm over the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia. To study TGFS, they used a special observatory on the International Space Station.
Work to understand TGFS is far from finishing. “The relationship between lightning and TGF is unclear,” says Wada. “This is why we continue to study.”
“We are targeting winter thunderstorms in Japan,” he added. “Since they have unusual features compared to other thunderstorms, such as low cloud rules, we expect to solve more puzzles by notes in Japan.”
the study It was published on May 21 in Science Advances.
