Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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. 2019 July 29 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Lightning over the Volcano of Water Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Sergio Montúfar ([4]Pinceladas Nocturnas) Explanation: Have you ever watched a lightning storm in awe? Join the crowd. Details of what causes [5]lightning are still [6]being researched, but it is known that inside some clouds, internal updrafts cause collisions between ice and [7]snow that slowly [8]separate charges between cloud tops and bottoms The [9]rapid electrical discharges that are [10]lightning soon result. [11]Lightning usually takes a jagged course, [12]rapidly heating a thin column of air to about three times the surface temperature of the [13]Sun. The resulting [14]shock wave starts [15]supersonically and decays into the [16]loud sound known as [17]thunder. On average, around the world, about [18]6,000 lightning bolts occur between clouds and the [19]Earth every minute. [20]Pictured earlier this month in a two-image composite, lightning stems from communication antennas near the top of [21]Volcán de Agua (Volcano of Water) in [22]Guatemala. Tomorrow's picture: flying without stars __________________________________________________________________ [23]< | [24]Archive | [25]Submissions | [26]Index | [27]Search | [28]Calendar | [29]RSS | [30]Education | [31]About APOD | [32]Discuss | [33]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [34]Robert Nemiroff ([35]MTU) & [36]Jerry Bonnell ([37]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [38]Specific rights apply. [39]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [40]ASD at [41]NASA / [42]GSFC & [43]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1907/LightningVolcano_Montufar_1440.jpg 3. https://www.flickr.com/people/m_acubens/ 4. https://www.flickr.com/photos/m_acubens/ 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning 6. https://preview.redd.it/j2upahwnd5bz.jpg?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=d8516b8ee21b210700f8b955c5ec8d6be782a95e 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180121.html 8. https://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/home/sites/default/files/thundercloud.gif 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120723.html 10. https://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/lightning/ 11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn65RFvJKnk 12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgurite 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090405.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap031115.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070819.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100427.html 17. http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_info/thunder2.html 18. https://www.lightningmaps.org/?lang=en#m=oss;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=;ts=0; 19. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/earth/in-depth/ 20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2zjDdS3NzQ 21. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcán_de_Agua 22. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190728.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 32. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=190729 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190730.html 34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 36. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 37. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 39. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 40. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 41. https://www.nasa.gov/ 42. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 43. http://www.mtu.edu/