A surprising and uncommon lightning phenomenon used to be stuck on digital camera by way of an astronaut aboard the Global House Station (ISS), revealing a big jet of electrical energy taking pictures 50 miles into area from a thunderstorm over Louisiana. The picture, taken on November 19, 2024, supplies a unprecedented glimpse of considered one of Earth’s tallest lightning discharges, a kind of atmospheric electric tournament that scientists are nonetheless running to know.
Not like conventional lightning bolts that strike downward towards the bottom, gigantic jets blast upward, extending past hurricane clouds and into the ionosphere, the electrically charged layer of Earth’s environment. Those jets are extremely tough, wearing as much as 60 instances extra calories than common lightning bolts, and stay one of the crucial mysterious climate phenomena on the earth.
A Placing Discovery from House
The picture, at first taken by way of an unnamed ISS astronaut, used to be found out in NASA’s Gateway to Astronaut Pictures of Earth database by way of photographer Frankie Lucena, a expert in shooting lightning sprites and atmospheric phenomena. Lucena shared the picture with Spaceweather.com, which then resurfaced the development on February 26, 2025, bringing consideration to the impressive sight.
In step with Are living Science, the precise location of the large jet is unclear because of cloud duvet, however in line with the ISS’s place on the time, it most likely came about simply off the coast of New Orleans. The picture used to be a part of a chain of 4 lightning footage, however best considered one of them captured the large upward discharge.
The precise peak of the jet is unclear. Alternatively, it most likely reached round 50 miles above Earth’s floor. (Symbol credit score: NASA)
What Makes Gigantic Jets So Uncommon?
Gigantic jets had been first documented in 2001, and whilst they’re believed to occur as incessantly as 1,000 instances in step with yr, just a few dozen have ever been photographed. The rationale? They’re extremely transient, lasting lower than a 2d, and incessantly happen in faraway spaces the place storms are tricky to observe.
Not like conventional lightning, which happens between charged layers in a hurricane cloud, gigantic jets spoil in the course of the higher cloud layer when the stability {of electrical} fees is disrupted. As a result of they succeed in the ionosphere, the similar area the place auroras happen, they incessantly produce an excellent blue glow, with tendrils of purple lightning corresponding to deep-sea jellyfish-like constructions.
Those upper-atmosphere electric discharges are distinct from sprites, some other form of atmospheric lightning that looks as purple flashes excessive above thunderstorms. Whilst sprites are extra not unusual and higher understood, gigantic jets stay a systematic thriller, with researchers nonetheless debating how and why they shape.
The Maximum Robust Lightning Ever Recorded
Gigantic jets don’t seem to be best visually impressive but in addition extremely tough. The most powerful one ever documented came about over Oklahoma in Might 2018, attaining a temperature of 8,000 levels Fahrenheit (4,400 levels Celsius) and wearing 60 instances extra calories than a normal lightning bolt.
As a result of they lengthen into area, scientists are serious about whether or not gigantic jets may have an effect on satellites, radio communications, and even area climate itself. Some researchers speculate that those high-energy discharges may play a task in balancing Earth’s electric atmosphere, despite the fact that a lot stays unknown.
3 sequential footage of a ‘gigantic jet’ lightning bolt blasting out of the highest of a cloud over Oklahoma, and taking pictures without delay into area. (Symbol credit score: Chris Holmes)
Catching Extra Lightning from House
Whilst this newest discovery used to be made months after the development came about, it underscores how a lot Earth’s upper-atmosphere phenomena stay unexplored. Due to new era and higher observational strategies, scientists are turning into extra able to detecting fleeting, high-energy occasions that had been as soon as unimaginable to seize.
As researchers proceed to check gigantic jets and different unique lightning phenomena, every new symbol taken from area brings us nearer to working out the hidden electric forces at play in Earth’s environment—and even perhaps past.
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