NASA astronaut records unusual sight of lightning ascending towards Earth's upper stratosphere
Nichole Ayers, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) during Expedition 72 and 73, made a remarkable discovery on July 3, 2025. She captured an image of a gigantic jet, a rare type of electrical discharge that can reach heights of 50-90km (30-55 miles) into the upper atmosphere.
Gigantic jets occur when turbulent conditions at the tops of thunderstorms allow lightning to travel upwards towards space. These powerful electrical discharges can pose a danger to airplanes due to severe turbulence and wind changes when observed from space.
Initially, Ayers' image was identified as a 'sprite', a type of upper atmospheric electrical phenomenon. However, it has since been confirmed as a transient luminous event (TLE). Dr. Burcu Kosar, Principal Investigator of the Spritacular project, a NASA citizen science project aimed at gathering images of such phenomena from the public, stated that Ayers' image is a rare and spectacular form of a TLE.
The Spritacular project encourages the public to share images of similar phenomena by emailing contactus@our website or submitting them to Spritacular. Ayers launched as the pilot of the SpaceX Crew-10 mission on 14 March 2025 and returned to Earth on 9 August 2025.
During her mission, Ayers also captured a night view of Northern Europe, a view of Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, and an image of comet C/2024 G3. Another astronaut, Thomas Pesquet, filmed a rare and spectacular TLE called the gigantic jet during the same expeditions.
Gigantic jets, when observed from space, can pose a danger to airplanes due to severe turbulence and wind changes. It is crucial to study these phenomena to better understand their impact on space travel and aviation. Ayers' discovery is a significant contribution to our understanding of upper atmospheric electrical phenomena.
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