A radio ridge connecting two galaxy clusters in a filament of the cosmic web

Galaxy clusters are the most massive gravitationally bound structures in the Universe. They grow by accreting smaller structures in a merging process that produces shocks and turbulence in the intracluster gas. We observed a ridge of radio emission connecting the merging galaxy clusters Abell 0399 and Abell 0401 with the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope network at 140 megahertz. This emission requires a population of relativistic electrons and a magnetic field located in a filament between the two galaxy clusters. We performed simulations to show that a volume-filling distribution of weak shocks may reaccelerate a preexisting population of relativistic particles, producing emission at radio wavelengths that illuminates the magnetic ridge.

Needle-like structures discovered on positively charged lightning branches

Lightning is a dangerous yet poorly understood natural phenomenon. Lightning forms a network of plasma channels propagating away from the initiation point with both positively and negatively charged ends-called positive and negative leaders¹. Negative leaders propagate in discrete steps, emitting copious radio pulses in the 30-300-megahertz frequency band^2-8 that can be remotely sensed and imaged with high spatial and temporal resolution^9-11. Positive leaders propagate more continuously and thus emit very little high-frequency radiation¹². Radio emission from positive leaders has nevertheless been mapped^13-15, and exhibits a pattern that is different from that of negative leaders^11-13,16,17. Furthermore, it has been inferred that positive leaders can become transiently disconnected from negative leaders^{9,12,16,18-20}, which may lead to current pulses that both reconnect positive leaders to negative leaders^{11,16,17,20-22} and cause multiple cloud-to-ground lightning events¹. The disconnection process is thought to be due to negative differential resistance¹⁸, but this does not explain why the disconnections form primarily on positive leaders²², or why the current in cloud-to-ground lightning never goes to zero²³. Indeed, it is still not understood how positive leaders emit radio-frequency radiation or why they behave differently from negative leaders. Here we report three-dimensional radio interferometric observations of lightning over the Netherlands with unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution. We find small plasma structures-which we call 'needles'-that are the dominant source of radio emission from the positive leaders. These structures appear to drain charge from the leader, and are probably the reason why positive leaders disconnect from negative ones, and why cloud-to-ground lightning connects to the ground multiple times.

Probing Atmospheric Electric Fields in Thunderstorms through Radio Emission from Cosmic-Ray-Induced Air Showers

We present measurements of radio emission from cosmic ray air showers that took place during thunderstorms. The intensity and polarization patterns of these air showers are radically different from those measured during fair-weather conditions. With the use of a simple two-layer model for the atmospheric electric field, these patterns can be well reproduced by state-of-the-art simulation codes. This in turn provides a novel way to study atmospheric electric fields.