ScienceTechyNews: GRAPES-3 muon telescope discovers record 1.3 gigavolt potential in a thundercloud

By muon imaging the GRAPES-3 collaboration showed huge voltages develop in supercharged thunderstorms and reported a voltage of 1.3GV on Dec. 1, 2014. This is 10 times larger than previous record of 0.13GV. This verifies the 90-year-old prediction of 1GV by C.T.R. Wilson. Such massive voltages are needed for production of high-energy (100 MeV) gamma-rays detected in terrestrial gamma ray flashes emanating from thunderstorms, first discovered 25 years ago.

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