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00:03 Astronomers have been watching Venus's epic light shows for years,
00:07 but they were never 100% sure about what they are.
00:10 The leading theory was just like on Earth, they're lightning storms.
00:13 With NASA even announcing the second planet from the sun has more electrical storms than our own planet.
00:18 However, a new study challenges that theory, suggesting that it might be something else entirely.
00:23 Lightning is often actually detected by the radio waves it produces,
00:27 but the Cassini and Parker solar probes attempted to collect radio wave data from Venus as they passed it.
00:32 There's just one problem, despite the ubiquity of the lightning,
00:35 they couldn't detect any sign of it via radio waves.
00:37 Which is why researchers from Arizona State University decided to actually count the number of flashes
00:42 and extrapolate that data into an annual number.
00:45 They found an estimated 10,000 to 100,000 flashes every year.
00:49 And that just so happens to be the same estimation of the number of likely meteor strikes on the planet annually as well.
00:55 Meaning those flashes could actually be tiny rocks burning up in Venus's atmosphere.
00:59 Scientists have long wondered how lightning might form on Venus,
01:02 as much of its atmosphere is made of sulfuric acid rather than water vapor.
01:06 This new data could be good news for future missions as well,
01:09 as experts say lightning strikes could pose a threat to mission-critical tech.
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