International Space Station Captures Remarkable “Blue Jet” Lightning Shooting From An Electrical Storm

Science News

Sometimes nature lets us capture rare and remarkable occurrences. The International Space Station captured a brilliant view of a thunderstorm from above. The remarkable thing was, it also captured a strange type of lightning known as the blue jet. Blue jets are types of lightning that shoot upwards from thunderclouds into the stratosphere. They strike altitudes of over 30 miles in under a second. Rare and hardly seen, that is, unless you are in space way above.

State-of-the-art equipment aboard the International space Station (ISS) made this possible, allowing us a better understanding how lightning originates and even how storms distribute greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. Basically it gives us pointers in understanding weather systems in general. Also, the footage also offers a perspective of electrical storms that we have never appreciated until now.


The typical lightning we are familiar with interacts with a mixture of gases in the lower atmosphere to create glowing white bolts. Blue jets excite stratospheric nitrogen to create a luminous blue color.

The bizarre phenomenon of blue jets have been observed from aircraft and ground level vantage points. The European space Agency’s Atmosphere-Space Interaction Monitor (ASIM) at the ISS, which is about 250 miles above the Earth, allowed researchers to get the best vantage point of a blue jet arising from a sudden burst of electricity coming from the top of a thundercloud. The video was captured in 2019 and released by the European Space Agency, shows blue-hued lightning bolts shooting upwards from storm clouds over the Pacific island of Nauru into the stratosphere.

Flickriver

Likewise, “elves” or rapidly expanding rings of optical and UV emissions were also generated by the flash. These emissions that took place at the bottom of the ionosphere, were due to the interaction between electrons, the atmosphere, and radio waves. Blue jets, elves, and mythological-sounding sprites are important to understand how radio waves travel through the air. This has potential ramifications about our communication technologies, as well as knowledge of how lightning is initiated in the clouds, and how greenhouse gases are concentrated in the atmosphere.

Definitely, observers on earth would have a difficult time spotting these light shows.But thanks to the highly sensitive and modern tools installed on the Space Station in 2018, which include photometers, an X and Gamma ray detector, and optical cameras, the elusive phenomena has been captured for all to enjoy. It also provides researchers with knowledge of the processes that occur in the upper atmosphere.


Astrid Orr, Physical Sciences Coordinator for human and robotic space flight at the European Space Agency said, This paper is an impressive highlight of the many new phenomena ASIM is observing above thunderstorms and shows that we still have so much to discover and learn about our Universe.” He added, Congratulations to all the scientists and university teams that made this happen as well as the engineers that built the observatory and the support teams on ground operating ASIM – a true international collaboration that has led to amazing discoveries.”

 Yes, sometimes nature allows us the privilege to witness strange but amazing happenings. Who knows what comes next.

 

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