Are Violent Lightning Storms Beaming Radio Signals to Earth?

It turns out violent lightning storms that are millions of times more powerful than here on Earth may be guilty for the unexplained radio signals from planets.

French astronomers, in 2009, observed what they believed to be a weak radio signal coming from the exoplanet HAT-P-11b, a “mini-Neptune” which is about five times larger in size than Earth and 26 times more massive. The French team attempted to locate the signal again the following year; however they were unsuccessful, which left the phenomenon unexplained.

A team from the University of St Andrews set to solve this so far unexplained mystery. PhD student, Gabriella Hodosán from the Life, Electricity, Atmosphere, Planets (LEAP) Project, and who is leading the study, said in a statement:

“We assumed that this signal was real and was coming from the planet. Then we asked the question: could such a radio signal be produced by lightning in the planet’s atmosphere, and if yes, how many lightning flashes would be needed for it?”

If we assume that the physics of lighting is the same for all solar system planets, the researchers found that 53 lightning flashes of Saturnian lightning-strength in a km² per hour would explain the observed radio signal on HAT-P-11b, according to the university. LEAP researcher and co-author of the paper, Dr. Paul Rimmer, said:

“Imagine the biggest lightning storm you’ve ever been caught in. Now imagine that this storm is happening everywhere over the surface of the planet. A storm like that would produce a radio signal approaching 1 percent the strength of the signal that was observed in 2009 on the exoplanet HAT-P-11b.”

To read more go to Vision Times