In another spectacular show, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) recently observed a blue jet. Describing their observations in the diary The nature, said it was captured by their instruments on February 26, 2019. Blue jet lighting, also known as upper atmosphere lighting, is lightning that pulls up from storms.
The phenomenon was observed by European monitors of space interactions in the atmosphere, near the island of Naru, on the Pacific Ocean. Scientists report seeing five intense flashes of blue light, each lasting about 10 to 20 milliseconds. The blue jet then emerged from the cloud in a narrow cone shape that stretched into the stratosphere, the atmospheric layer extending from about 10 to 50 kilometers above the Earth’s surface, as described by livescience.com.
“Leprechauns seen”
In addition to the blue jets, the researchers saw another phenomenon that takes place in the upper atmosphere. Known as “elves”, the phenomenon means Light Emissions and Very Low Frequency Disturbances due to electromagnetic pulse sources. The visualization of the phenomenon by an animated artist has now been launched by the European Space Agency (ESA). Watch it here:
Read: The spacecraft built in the UK will make its first flight to Venus on December 27 in the middle of the holiday season: ESA
Read: IN THE PICTURE: On the surface of Mars appears the fascinating “Christmas Angel” with a halo
In another news story about ESA, a spacecraft designed in the UK made its first flight from Venus as it headed for the Sun on a mission to decode the mysteries of the neighboring planet. The spacecraft is expected to tilt under the influence of the Sun’s gravitational force, as it will face Venus to make observations that will help scientists learn more about the planet. The Solar Orbiter’s perihelion to the Sun occurred on December 27, at about 12:39 UTC (13:39 CET) during the holiday season, according to ESA. The ship will fly about 7,500 km from the top of Venus clouds.
Read: UNESCO calls Korean Lantern Lighting Festival “an intangible cultural heritage”
Read: Hanukkah 2020: Details on the tradition of Menorah lighting