The International Space Station detects blue lightning “jets” that shoot up from thunder clouds that could influence greenhouse gas concentrations in the Earth’s atmosphere.
- The phenomenon was detected by the ASIM device of the European Space Agency
- This is a collection of cameras, photometers and an X / gamma detector
- The blue jet was seen coming from a cloud over the Pacific island of Nauru
- He reached the stratosphere and was accompanied by a ring-like “elf”
- Understanding these phenomena could shed light on how lightning is formed
Blue lightning “planes” pulling up from the clouds were detected by an instrument aboard the International Space Station, a study reported.
Measured by the European Space Agency’s Atmosphere-Space Interaction Monitor (ASIM), the phenomenon originated in a cloud top above the Pacific island of Nauru.
It reached the stratosphere – experts believe that blue planes can travel distances of up to 50 kilometers – and lasted less than a second.
Because blue jets form above the cloud layer, they are very difficult to see – and study – from below the Earth’s surface.
Orbiting about 400 kilometers around the clouds, however, the International Space Station is given an unobstructed view.
Understanding the formation of blue jets – and other energy phenomena in the stratosphere and above – can reveal clues as to how lightning strikes.
Experts also believe that blue jets may play a role in influencing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere – something that needs to be further studied by studies.
Blue lightning “planes” pulling up from the clouds were detected by an instrument aboard the International Space Station, a study reported. In the photo, a photo of a storm taken from the ISS by astronaut Andreas Mogensen in 2015
ASIM – a collection of optical cameras and photometers, as well as an X-ray and gamma detector – was installed in the International Space Station in 2018.
The monitor is designed to look for electrical discharges that come from stormy weather conditions and extend over storms into the upper atmosphere.
The blue jet recently detected by ASIM was launched by an intense series of five 10 microsecond flashes, the researchers reported.
Also generated by the flash were the so-called “elves” – expanding rings with optical and ultraviolet emissions that appear at the bottom of the ionosphere, about 80 miles (80 km) above the Earth’s surface.
They are made up of electrons and radio waves that interact with the atmosphere.
“Blue jets are lightning-type atmospheric electric discharges lasting several hundred milliseconds that turn into cones as they propagate from the top of the clouds into the stratosphere,” the researchers wrote in their paper.
“It is believed to initiate an electrical failure between the positively charged upper region of a cloud and a negative charge layer at the cloud boundary and in the air above,” they continued.
“The breakdown is a leader that goes into streamers as it spreads upward. However, the properties of the conductor and the altitude at which it extends above the clouds are not well characterized. ‘
Understanding the formation of blue jets – and other energy phenomena in the stratosphere and above, as illustrated – can reveal clues about how lightning strikes
Measured by the European Space Agency’s Atmosphere-Space Interaction Monitor (pictured), the phenomenon occurred in a cloud top above the Pacific island of Nauru.
“This work is an impressive culmination of many new phenomena that ASIM is observing over storms,” said Astrid Orr, ESA’s physical science coordinator for human and robotic spaceflight.
‘[It] shows that we still have so much to discover and learn about our Universe. ‘
“Congratulations to all the scientists and university teams who made this happen, as well as to the engineers who built the observatory and field support teams operating ASIM,” she continued.
The effort, she concluded, was “a true international collaboration that led to amazing discoveries.”
The full results of the study were published in the journal Nature.