Related papers: High-energy radiation from thunderstorms and light…
New facilities and technologies have advanced our understanding of massive stars significantly over the past 30 years. Here I introduce a new large survey of massive stars using VLT-FLAMES, noting the target fields and observed binary…
Lightning in planetary atmospheres is now a well-established concept. Here we discuss the available detection techniques for, and observations of, planetary lightning by spacecraft, planetary landers and, increasingly, sophisticated…
This work presents a unified conceptual and observational framework that reinterprets these radiation bursts as manifestations of the same runaway processes happening at different atmospheric depths (Dual-stage model, DSM). We review recent…
Observations and models suggest that the conditions to develop lightning may be present in cloud-forming extrasolar planetary and brown dwarf atmospheres. Whether lightning on these objects is similar to or very different from what is known…
In this contribution we report the on-going progresses of the project FATE, an operational automatic forecast system conceived to deliver forecasts of a set of astroclimatic and atmospheric parameters having the aim to support the science…
During thunderstorms, the atmospheric electric field can increase above hundreds of kV/m, causing an acceleration in the charged particles of secondary cosmic rays. Such an acceleration causes avalanche processes in the atmosphere,…
Supergiant Fast X-ray transients are a subclass of high mass X-ray binaries displaying a peculiar and still poorly understood extreme variability in the X-ray domain. These sources undergo short sporadic outbursts (LX ~ 10^36 - 10^37…
Clouds form on extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs where lightning could occur. Lightning is a tracer of atmospheric convection, cloud formation and ionization processes as known from the Solar System, and may be significant for the…
Many science missions require an unobstructed view of space and a stable thermal environment but lack the technical or programmatic resources to reach orbits that satisfy these needs. This paper presents a high Earth orbit in 2:1 resonance…
In this White Paper we present the potential of the enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry (eXTP) mission for studies related to Observatory Science targets. These include flaring stars, supernova remnants, accreting white dwarfs, low and…
The space mission LOFT (Large Observatory For X-ray Timing) was selected in 2011 by ESA as one of the candidates for the M3 launch opportunity. LOFT is equipped with two instruments, the Large Area Detector (LAD) and the Wide Field Monitor…
During the three years long assessment phase of the LOFT mission, candidate to the M3 launch opportunity of the ESA Cosmic Vision programme, we estimated and measured the radiation damage of the silicon drift detectors (SDDs) of the…
This Letter of Intent describes LUXE (Laser Und XFEL Experiment), an experiment that aims to use the high-quality and high-energy electron beam of the European XFEL and a powerful laser. The scientific objective of the experiment is to…
The runaway breakdown -- extensive atmospheric shower discharge (RB - EAS) excited in thunderstorm atmosphere by high energy cosmic ray particles ($\epsilon_p>10^{17} - 10^{19}$ eV) generate very powerful radio pulse. The RB - EAS theory is…
The ESA M3 candidate mission LOFT (Large Observatory For x-ray Timing) has been designed to study strong gravitational fields by observing compact objects, such as black-hole binaries or neutron-star systems and supermassive black-holes,…
The Pierre Auger Observatory has detected downward terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) with its Surface Detector. A key to understanding this high-energy radiation in thunderstorms is to combine such measurements with measurements of…
The eXTP (enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry) mission is a major project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and China National Space Administration (CNSA) currently performing an extended phase A study and proposed for a launch by…
Thunderstorms produce strong electric fields over regions on the order of kilometer. The corresponding electric potential differences are on the order of 100 MV. Secondary cosmic rays reaching these regions may be significantly accelerated…
A report is made on a comprehensive observation of a burst-like $\gamma$-ray emission from thunderclouds on the Sea of Japan, during strong thunderstorms on 2007 January 6. The detected emission, lasting for $\sim$40 seconds, preceded…
Thunderstorms and the lightning that they produce are inherently interesting phenomena that have intrigued scientists and mankind in general for many years. The study of thunderstorms has rapidly advanced during the past century and many…