Astronaut captures rare, ethereal lightning from space station

“Transient light event” sounds like a euphemism for a ghost, but it’s actually a beautiful phenomenon that can sometimes be seen from the International Space Station. European Space Agency astronaut and current ISS resident Thomas Pesquet shared a view of an ethereal blue glow emerging over Europe.

Transient light events are caused by lightning in the upper atmosphere. This happened in early September and Pesquet tweeted about it this week, calling it “a very rare occurrence”.

The ISS is in an ideal position to study the colorful events, which are described using a series of fantastic names, including elves, sprites and giants. Photographers with keen eyes were even able to capture them from the ground, as with these fantastic views of red sprites shared in 2017.

“What is fascinating about these lightning bolts is that just a few decades ago they were observed anecdotally by pilots and scientists weren’t convinced they really existed,” he said. declared Pesquet on Flickr. “Fast forward a few years and we can confirm that elves and sprites are real and could influence our climate as well!”

Pesquet’s image represents a single image of a time-lapse taken from the station. The image would be a beauty just for the way it shows the curve of the Earth and the twinkling lights of Europe below. The transient light event captured at its best moment takes it to the next level.