While the International Space Station is not deactivated, phenomena, intriguing objects e even movies continue to be captured by resident astronauts or visitors to NASA’s so-called ISS. In a new photograph taken by one of them, lightning was seen over Europe. But unlike most lightning, such an electrical discharge had the appearance of a large blue bubble over the continent.
The “transient light event”, as the upper atmospheric lightning is known, was detected in a timelapse made by French astronaut Thomas Pesquet. This type of lightning looks different from the flashes that occur in storm clouds and tends to be much larger. Check out the image:
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There are sprites, which are vertical flashes of red or blue-green light; jets, which tend to be blue and occur in the stratosphere; and goblins, which are very high-altitude electromagnetic pulses. There are also trolls, which are similar to jets, and other luminous forms of lightning that happen above clouds.
The colors of the various phenomena are shaped by the atmosphere; on Earth, nitrogen makes sprites look red, but on Jupiter, a hydrogen-rich atmosphere would make the sprites turn blue.
These lightning shapes are extraordinarily brief, so Pesquet’s photo was taken from a longer timelapse of the night sky. According to the astronaut, the ISS is well positioned to photograph such phenomena, as it flies over the equator, where more thunderstorms occur. The event he captured came from somewhere in southeastern Italy.
What did you think of this photograph? Let us know in the comments!
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