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Published online 24 November 2006 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news061120-14
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Saturn's spokes may be made by lightning
Thunderstorms on the giant planet may cause puzzling streaks in its rings.
The mysterious spokes in Saturn's rings may be created by massive thunderstorms in the planet's atmosphere.
If the theory is right, these faint features are the signature of awesome events: lightning strokes ten thousand times more energetic than those on Earth, releasing beams of electrons that surge up from Saturn's surface to whack into the rings and blast out jets of electrically charged dust.
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