During his mission aboard the International Space Station in 2015, Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen captured a dramatic weather phenomenon that’s rarely seen from Earth. As Mashable reports, his footage below is the clearest look we have at “blue jet” lightning.
Blue jets form when lightning bolts spring from the tops of thunderclouds, shooting 25 to 30 miles up. Even from a vantage point in the Earth’s orbit, the flashes can be difficult to document. Mogensen recorded this video using highly sensitive camera equipment aboard the ISS.
During the 160 seconds of footage taken above the Bay of Bengal, 245 blue flashes of electricity were captured. The film provides an unprecedented look at a weather phenomenon meteorologists still know little about. The European Space Agency (ESA) is now planning to mount a camera outside their Columbus laboratory aboard the ISS that will monitor thunderstorms around the clock. In addition to giving us more data about blue jets, future footage could provide valuable information about other types of upper-atmospheric lightning like red sprites, pixies, and elves.
[h/t Mashable]
February 10, 2017 – 12:30pm