Sprite discharges on Venus and Jupiter-like planets: a laboratory investigation

Abstract

Large sprite discharges at high atmospheric altitudes have been found to be physically similar to small streamer discharges in air at sea level density. Based on this understanding, we investigate possible sprite discharges on Venus or Jupiter-like planets through laboratory experiments on streamers in appropriate CO2-N2 and H2-He mixtures. First, the scaling laws are experimentally confirmed by varying the density of the planetary gasses. Then streamer diameters, velocities and overall morphology are investigated for sprites on Venus and Jupiter; they are quite similar to those on earth, but light emissions in the visible range are fainter by two orders of magnitude. The discharge spectra are measured; they are dominated by the minority species N2 on Venus, while signatures of both species are found on Jupiter-like planets. The spectrum of a fully developed spark on Venus is measured. We show that this spectrum is significantly different from the expected sprite spectrum.

27 pages, 10 figures, article accepted for publication in J. Geophys. Res. - Space Physics

References in corpus (7)

• Positive and negative streamers in ambient air: measuring diameter, velocity and dissipated energy
• Photoionization in negative streamers: fast computations and two propagation modes
• The multiscale nature of streamers
• Review of recent results on streamer discharges and discussion of their relevance for sprites and lightning
• Interaction of streamers in air and other oxygen-nitrogen mixtures
• Reconnection and merging of positive streamers in air
• A study of the possibility of sprites in the atmospheres of other planets

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Review of recent results on streamer discharges and discussion of their relevance for sprites and lightning
• Probing photo-ionization: simulations of positive streamers in varying N2:O2 mixtures