Why Do Thunderstorms Give Off Super-Intense Gamma Rays? : DNews — news.discovery.com

Gamma rays, which have the shortest wavelengths and the most energy of any wave in the electromagnetic spectrum, are produced by the hottest, most energetic objects in the universe — neutron stars and pulsars, supernova explosions and regions around black holes. But on Earth, they’re also generated by thunderstorms. Since gamma-ray bursts from thunderstorms were discovered back in 1992 by NASA’s now-decommissioned Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, scientists have been eager to figure out what causes them to occur, and to identify the characteristics of storms that produce them.

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