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                           Astronomy Picture of the Day   
      
       Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our   
         fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation   
                       written by a professional astronomer.   
      
                                   2024 June 18   
      A landscape showing a night sky over distant mountains is shown. Lakes   
      dot the foreground in front of the mountains. Extending from above the   
       mountains into the night sky are six bright jets. The jets are violet   
       at the bottom but red at the top. Please see the explanation for more   
                               detailed information.   
      
                      Gigantic Jets over Himalayan Mountains   
                       Image Credit & Copyright: Li Xuanhua   
      
      Explanation: Yes, but can your thunderstorm do this? Pictured here are   
      gigantic jets shooting up from a thunderstorm last week toward the   
      Himalayan Mountains in China and Bhutan. The composite image captured   
      four long jets that occurred only minutes apart. Gigantic jets,   
      documented only in this century, are a type of lightning discharge that   
      occurs between some thunderstorms and the Earth's ionosphere high above   
      them. They are an unusual type of lightning that is much different from   
      regular cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning. The bottoms of   
      gigantic jets appear similar to a cloud-to-above strike called blue   
      jets, while the tops appear similar to upper-atmosphere red sprites.   
      Although the mechanism and trigger that cause gigantic jets remains a   
      topic of research, it is clear that the jets reduce charge imbalance   
      between different parts of Earth's atmosphere. A good way to look for   
      gigantic jets is to watch a powerful but distant thunderstorm from a   
      clear location.   
      
                         Tomorrow's picture: dragon fight   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.   
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