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As\u00a0she flew\u00a0400 km above Earth at hypersonic speed, NASA astronaut\u00a0Jeanette Epps\u00a0caught a gigantic spark with\u00a0blue\u00a0and\u00a0red\u00a0flashes shooting upwards.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
This video shows\u00a0a blue jet propagating\u00a0into space towards the upper layers of the atmosphere. The beam of light is followed by red flashes spreading like tentacles across the sky.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
You can watch the\u00a0magnificent show\u00a0at different speeds,\u00a0but in reality, it\u00a0lasted less than a second.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jeanette\u00a0directed a high-resolution camera from the International Space Station towards a\u00a0summer\u00a0thunderstorm. With the camera set at the fastest frame rate for slow-motion video, she managed to record\u00a0the giant jet\u00a0in all its splendour.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
What\u00a0the astronaut\u00a0captured from orbit\u00a0in July 2024\u00a0is rarely visible on Earth because it takes place above the clouds, at altitudes\u00a0between 40 and 80 kilometres.\u00a0This\u00a0powerful yet elusive\u00a0electrical\u00a0phenomenon is known as a\u00a0Transient Luminous Event\u00a0(TLE).\u00a0<\/p>\n
ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen captured the\u00a0first pulsating jet\u00a0from space a decade ago, providing a new perspective on\u00a0electrical\u00a0activity at the top of thunderstorms. Scientists began to learn what types of clouds trigger such phenomena and how they\u00a0impact\u00a0the chemistry of the atmosphere.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her recording is part of the Thor-Davis experiment designed\u00a0to investigate lightning in the upper atmosphere and how it might affect the concentration of greenhouse gases. The experiment is called Thor after the god of thunder,\u00a0lightning\u00a0and storms in Nordic mythology,\u00a0and is led by the Danish Technical University (DTU) together with ESA.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lightning triggers powerful electrical bursts in\u00a0our\u00a0atmosphere\u00a0almost every\u00a0second, yet the inner workings of these forces of nature are still not fully understood. Capturing such phenomena is vital for scientists researching Earth\u2019s weather systems.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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