Does lightning strike on Venus? It’s a question that has perplexed planetary scientists for decades. Given that lightning has been detected in the clouds of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, you’d expect lightning to occur on Venus, too, but the planet’s dense clouds ensure that any lightning remains well hidden. Now a tantalising flash has reopened the debate.
On 1 March 2020 a camera on the Japanese Akatsuki spacecraft, which is orbiting Venus, detected a flash of light which, if it was lightning, was about 10 times more energetic than lightning on Earth. But bizarrely there was only one flash: lightning normally occurs in clusters. It’s possible the bright flash was caused by a large meteor exploding in the planet’s atmosphere, but this is seen as an unlikely explanation; such events are very rare.
The finding, which was revealed at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting in December, is still being scrutinised by scientists. Lightning seems to be the most likely contender and, if confirmed, it opens up the possibility of life on Venus. Powerful blasts of lightning can break apart atoms and allow new molecules to form, potentially creating the building blocks for microbial life.
For now, astronomers continue to scour the Venusian skies, hoping to see another flash.
