Since the Juno space probe arrived at Jupiter in 2016, Southwest Research Institute\u2019s Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) team have studied the morphology, brightness, and spectral characteristics of Jupiter’s auroras as the spacecraft travels close to its surface every 53 days.<\/p>\n
UVS has previously observed a set of 11 bright transient flashes that lasted one to two milliseconds. They were identified as Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), an upper atmospheric phenomenon triggered by lightning. The team initially thought this recent bright flash might be a TLE, however, it was different in two key ways. While it was also short-lived, it lasted at least 17 milliseconds, much longer than a TLE. It also had very different spectral characteristics. Spectra of TLEs and auroras feature emissions of molecular hydrogen<\/a>, the main component of Jupiter’s atmosphere. This bolide event had a smooth \u2018blackbody’ curve, which is what is expected from a meteor.<\/p>\n