Astronomy Picture of the Day . Night Lightning on Jupiter . ... Credit: The Galileo Project , NASA Explanation: Why is there lightning on Jupiter ? ... To create lightning , charges must first separate inside a cloud. On Earth , drafts of colliding ice and water droplets usually create this charge separation, but what happens on Jupiter ? Many astronomers theorize that Jovian lightning is also created in clouds containing water ice. ... Publications with keywords: Jupiter - lightning . ...