The images are analysed in a report in the journal Nature. Some aspects of Jupiter's weather system are remarkably stable. The Red Spot, a huge oval storm the size of the Earth, has persisted for at least three centuries. What is more, its atmosphere is divided into stable bands. Scientists, at Cornell University in the US, looked in detail at two large storms close to the Red Spot, which were accompanied by lightning strikes through the cloud layer.
Convection is the power behind tropical thunderstorms on Earth.
But whereas moist convection on Earth is ultimately powered by the heat of the Sun, on Jupiter there is another power source. However, Jupiter generates about twice as much heat as it absorbs from the Sun. The energy comes from the giant planet's slow contraction, as well as from the separation of gases within the planet. It is this, scientists believe, which could be powering Jupiter's weather systems.