Jupiter storms are made of 'slushee-like' hailstones and lightning

Striking images from NASA’s Juno spacecraft have revealed unexpected activity deep in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Slushy hail, made of water and ammonia, may form during lightning-packed storms, giving researchers fresh clues about what lurks beneath the planet’s colorful cloud tops.

Chris Moeckel of UC Berkeley suspects that these hailstones, known as mushballs, play an outsized role in Jupiter’s weather and chemistry. He believes this phenomenon might also extend to other large planets in our solar system and beyond.

Lightning storms create slushy hail

Jupiter’s storms can be fierce, with fast-rising currents and bursts of lightning. Conditions high above the cloud decks may allow water ice and ammonia to combine into slushy spheres.

These mushballs, shaped by strong updrafts, could carry ammonia-rich material far deeper than regular rain can manage.

“There’s no way in the world this is true,” said Moeckel, who spent years testing every possible alternative.

Many scientists once doubted such a process, but new data seem to confirm that ammonia is being drawn out of the upper layers by these icy hailstones.

Mushballs change what we know

The gas giants Jupiter and Saturn are dominated by hydrogen and helium, unlike Earth, that has an atmosphere rich in nitrogen and oxygen.

Researchers want to know how storms and hail shape planetary weather when there is no solid ground to stop the rain.

Because mushballs might carry icy material into warmer inner regions, they could shed light on how giant planets move heat and chemicals around inside their deep tropospheres.

Studies of Jupiter can also help us better understand exoplanets, which often resemble our solar system’s biggest worlds.

When astronomers observe distant atmospheres, they typically only see the highest layers. Learning that hail can mask ammonia or other molecules gives a fresh perspective when we measure exoplanet cloud tops.

Role of lightning in Jupiter’s storms

Lightning remains a crucial part of these hail-making storms on Jupiter. It can form when charged ice particles collide, releasing bursts of energy that reshape cloud chemistry.

On Jupiter, these flashes occur in regions with thick clouds and substantial water content.

According to some models, intense lightning helps bind water and ammonia into slush. That same lightning may also guide scientists searching for stormy spots across the planet’s belts and zones.

When these violent updrafts weaken, the heavy slush falls. Without a solid surface below, the pellets keep sinking until they reach layers too warm for the ammonia-and-water mix to stay frozen.

In that way, the hail removes ammonia from the visible clouds and drops it far beneath, out of view.

Jupiter’s storms show Earth-like patterns

Although Earth’s storms are powered by oxygen and nitrogen, rather than by Jupiter’s hydrogen-rich mix, certain parallels might still apply. Lightning can fuse ice into hail, and strong currents can grow hailstones until they become too heavy.

Our world has updrafts that rise for only a few miles. Jupiter’s weather extends much farther, so hail may have a long, slushy ride down.

Unlike on Earth, Jupiter’s hailstones never strike a surface. Instead, they melt into droplets that down through the gas giant’s denser layers.

This process repeats in other storms, giving the giant planet a dynamic atmosphere where storms appear and vanish, sometimes leaving behind chemical clues for researchers to trace.

Mushballs and disappearing ammonia

Scientists searching for ammonia in Jupiter’s clouds noticed puzzling gaps where it seemed to disappear. One explanation is that mushballs yank it downward.

Some observers used radio telescopes to map ammonia levels, while Juno’s instruments probed deeper under the visible cloud tops.

Together, these readings hinted at a hail-based mechanism. If that mechanism holds on Jupiter, it could happen on Saturn and beyond.

No two gas giants are alike, though. Uranus and Neptune have different compositions, with methane giving them a bluish tint, so their hail processes may take a different form.

Still, the principle of heavy ice clumps sinking in a deep gaseous atmosphere might not be unique to Jupiter.

Using Juno and data on Earth

Working with colleagues, Moeckel examined the Juno Mission‘s troves of data to rule out simpler explanations. He concluded that these icy slush pellets could explain why certain of Jupiter’s layers show less ammonia than anticipated.

Specialized radio maps and lightning observations gave a three-dimensional look, suggesting that large storms drive powerful updrafts and carry hail to surprising depths.

This theory also highlights the value of coordinated research. Telescopes on Earth, instruments aboard Juno, and lab-based experiments all come together to paint a more complete picture of Jupiter’s stormy weather.

Each storm event reveals how big planets can shuffle chemicals around without any hard surface in sight.

Implications for future missions

With more spacecraft on the horizon, scientists are eager to learn whether Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune also brew unusual hail.

Missions to these outer worlds might carry advanced instruments to track ammonia signatures, detect lightning, or chart clouds at multiple depths. Answers about Jupiter could help plan these explorations, from robotic flybys to dedicated orbiters.

Observations of Jupiter’s swirling patterns hint at both shallow weather and deeper pockets of activity.

Now, mushballs stand as a possible explanation for how clouds lose ammonia and how water stays hidden away. Each new storm captured by Juno reaffirms that gas giants are far more active than we once assumed.

Jupiter’s hail-making storms may sound unbelievable, but that sense of wonder drives planetary science. Researchers push to confirm these findings, eager to refine weather models that apply across the outer solar system and perhaps beyond.

The study was published in the journal Science Advances.

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