What do you think the possibilities are that cosmic rays....??

Question

are the cause of lightning?....

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=experts-do-cosmic-rays-cause-lightning

so if I was hit by lightning, would that mean a cosmic ray got me, too?.... or are we getting hit by them all the time and the lightning is just chance?....finding out that "On average, lightning flashes occur on earth about 100 times every second." staggered me.... if they are all from cosmic rays, we're really getting bombarded!!.... where from?....

Answer 1

Cosmic Rays are striking all around and through us each second, far more often than lightning. Our daily dose of them is moderate compared to radiation from an X-Ray photo. Lightning is electrical discharges and auroras are from ionized atoms; neither are from cosmic rays.

Cosmic Rays do not initiate lightning. They would not sit in space and wait for storm clouds to gather before coming to Earth.

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Answer 2

You get hit by cosmic rays way more times than you'll get hit by lightning.

And yes, cosmic rays can play a role in lightning.  To have lightning, a cloud must accumulate a significant charge compared to objects around it, by the action of turbulence on charged objects (e.g. small ice crystals) within it.  This charge builds up, causing a huge gradient in static voltage potential.  The lightning discharges part of this charge, but only when the conductivity of the air is increased by some ionization.  A small ionization trail can easily be caused by a cosmic ray.  Note that cosmic rays are hitting everywhere all the time, but they'll only initiate lightning when they ionize air a little near a thundercloud.

And yes, we really are getting bombarded with cosmic rays.  Cosmic rays fill the volume of the Galaxy, and to some extent intergalactic space as well.  You're hit by significantly more cosmic rays at high altitude and in airplanes than at sea level.  This is one of the reasons why it's silly to worry about the very small amount of additional radiation you might get from medical x-rays or a well-run nuclear power plant.

It is now thought that a little bit of radiation dosage, e.g. from cosmic rays, may be healthier than no radiation, because a little radiation "exercises" the radiation-damage repair systems in our cells, keeping them working well.

Answer 3

No.  Lightning is not created by cosmic rays.  Auroras are.

Answer 4

Well, lightening is poorly understood. I can see you're thinking "outside the box" but I have to agree with the posters who imply that it's a "local" phenomena due to characteristics of a planets gravity and electro-mag field. Jupiter has it as you probably know.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap971216.html

But, really, in the broadest sense they ARE "cosmic" in origin because we are part of the cosmos and, as such, are affected by everything else in it.

Sorry, don't know that I helped any but it's an interesting question:)

And Thank-You Cosmo above, excellent answer.

Answer 5

It could play a role. Danish Henrik Svensmark has the same idea about global warming:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew...

Of course, lightning is what we know it is: electrical charge from the motion of the air. And, as a private pilot, I know how air can move upward and downward in amazing ways. The cumulonimbus associated with thunderstorms are a no-no for us. If glider pilots wear a parachute it is not because they are afraid their plane will break down - glider flying is the safest way to be in the air - but if in a CB (cumulonimbus) they might be taken up without managing to come down and they would die from lack of oxygen above say, 14,000 ft.

That this air motion creates static electricity is no brainer. That the static electricity discharges as a lightning is a simple experiment done thousand of times in classrooms everywhere, every day.

But cosmic rays working as a trigger is a possibility, just as it can also be causing condensation of moist air into rain; according to this Danish scientist.

Answer 6

You personally are being bombarded by cosmic rays at the rate of a few per second every moment of every day day. You can build a bubble chamber in your garage to confirm this. Some of the occasional flashes in your eye that you see at night with your eyes closed are due to cosmic rays.