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New research confirms the existence of ammonia-water 'mushball' hailstones on Jupiter, solving a long-standing atmospheric mystery. These slushy hailstorms, occurring deep within Jupiter's atmosphere, redistribute ammonia, explaining its depletion in certain areas. UC Berkeley scientists used data from Juno, VLA, and Hubble to create a 3D model confirming this bizarre phenomenon, which may also occur on other gas giants. The mushballs form in thunderstorms, rise, then fall, delivering ammonia to deeper layers. This challenges previous assumptions about atmospheric mixing on gas giants.

Prepared by Olivia Bennett and reviewed by editorial team.