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New Theory on Hailstones Could Transform Gas Giant Research

4/20/2025

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Summary

Story summary

A groundbreaking theory from UC Berkeley's Moeckel suggests that mushball hailstones, created from ammonia and water ice in fierce lightning storms, could clarify Jupiter's puzzling atmospheric data. The Juno mission's discovery of ammonia's surprising scarcity challenges our views on gas giants and hints that this phenomenon might extend to Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus, reshaping our cosmic understanding.

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Story summary

A groundbreaking theory from UC Berkeley's Moeckel suggests that mushball hailstones, created from ammonia and water ice in fierce lightning storms, could clarify Jupiter's puzzling atmospheric data. The Juno mission's discovery of ammonia's surprising scarcity challenges our views on gas giants and hints that this phenomenon might extend to Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus, reshaping our cosmic understanding.