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(Image credit: NASA/ISS/Nichole Ayers)
A NASA astronaut has actually recorded an electrifying picture of Earth from areaincluding an enormous, jellyfish-shaped “sprite” of red lightning shooting upwards above a thunderstorm in North America. The uncommon phenomenon is still improperly comprehended, in spite of being studied for more than 30 years.
Nichole Ayers, the pilot of SpaceX’s Crew-10 objective and member of International Space Station(ISS)explorations 72 and 73, snapped the striking picture on Thursday (July 3)as the spaceport station passed above a big thunderstorm hanging over parts of Mexico and the southern U.S., consisting of California and Texas.
“Just. Wow. As we went over Mexico and the U.S. this morning, I caught this sprite,” Ayers composed on the social platform X “Sprites are TLEs or Transient Luminous Events, that happen above the clouds and are triggered by intense electrical activity in the thunderstorms below,” she included.
TLEs are a variety of visual phenomena that happen in the upper environment throughout thunderstorms, consisting of upward-shooting blue jets and UFO-like rings of lightreferred to as ELVES. The most typical TLEs are sprites, like the one photographed by Ayers.
Sprites are often described as jellyfish since they consist of numerous branches of light that expanded like arms, while others call them “carrots” due to the fact that they can be accompanied by fainter tendrils that route behind them in the opposite instructions like plant roots. They are frequently connected with big thunderstorms, consisting of those produced by cyclones
Related: Energizing time-lapse image catches 100 lightning bolts torching the sky
The red sprite in the brand-new picture most likely towered as much as 50 miles above Earth’s surface area. (Image credit: NASA/ISS/Nichole Ayers )
Sprites can vary in shapes and size, with the biggest rising to 50 miles (80 kilometers) above Earth’s surface area. They have a red color since they engage with nitrogen in the upper environment, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory
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Sprites were very first effectively observed in the 1950s by airline company travelers however were not photographed till 1989. The red jellyfish have actually likewise been found in the environment of Jupiter, and they are believed to take place on Saturn and Venus, according to Live Science’s sibling website Space.com
Regardless of years of research study, scientists are still uncertain why some lightning strikes cause sprites and others do not, according to FOX Weather
TLEs from area
Sprites and other TLEs can be photographed from Earth’s surface area If the conditions are. ISS astronauts are distinctively well-positioned to see TLEs and often see the flashes of lightning strikes at the exact same time, offering beneficial information to assist scientists find out how these phenomena work.
“We have a great view above the clouds, so scientists can use these types of pictures to better understand the formation, characteristics, and relationship of TLEs to thunderstorms,” Ayers composed.
Among the most current examples of this remained in March, when an unnamed ISS astronaut snapped faint red sprites radiant at the end of a “gigantic jet” of lightning shooting up above New Orleans
Another outstanding example was a spooky red jellyfish that appeared to drift individually in Earth’s environment, high above a flash of lightning in June 2024, Space.com formerly reported
Harry is a U.K.-based senior personnel author at Live Science. He studied marine biology at the University of Exeter before training to end up being a reporter. He covers a wide variety of subjects consisting of area expedition, planetary science, area weather condition, environment modification, animal habits and paleontology. His current deal with the solar optimum won “best space submission” at the 2024 Aerospace Media Awards and was shortlisted in the “top scoop” classification at the NCTJ Awards for Excellence in 2023. He likewise composes Live Science’s weekly Earth from area series.
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