Absolutely stunning. Also scary. Very scary.
This blue blob surrounded by the dark and starry mass of land on Earth is actually a lightning strike that was seen in the upper atmosphere. The ‘transient luminous event’ was observed over Europe.
Events like this are rarely observed, but astronaut Andreas Mogensen captured the image from the International Space Station. Surprisingly, his location was very well-suited to capture the flash of light, as the Station flies over the equator where there are more thunderstorms.
Image credit: Thomas Pesquet via Flickr
#Thuderstorms #InternationalSpaceStation #Lightning #TransientLuminuousEvent