An astronaut captures a surprising and mysterious phenomenon from the ISS

From the ISS, located approximately 400 km above our heads, astronauts can observe many natural phenomena. This was recently the case when an astronaut took a photograph that was as surprising as it was rare. 

Without further ado, it was Nichole Ayers, who has been aboard the ISS since last March, who achieved this feat. In her photo, we can see a sprite, which is a little-known phenomenon that usually occurs during intense thunderstorms. Taking the form of a “tornado of light,” it has a bluish-white color at its base and an intense red color at its top. Furthermore, this type of phenomenon is quite difficult to photograph, as it lasts only a few milliseconds and does not occur often.

Thus, when posting this striking photo on X, the astronaut added: “Just. Wow. As we went over Mexico and the US this morning, I caught this sprite. Sprites are TLEs or Transient Luminous Events, which happen above the clouds and are triggered by intense electrical activity in the thunderstorms below. We have a great view above the clouds, so scientists can use these types of pictures to better understand the formation, characteristics, and relationship of TLEs to thunderstorms.” 

It should be noted that, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), sprites can extend up to 60 miles from the top of the cumulonimbus cloud in which they originate. And that's not all, because they are only visible at night, with special equipment, due to their relatively low brightness. 

Furthermore, according to the CNRS, this type of phenomenon has been under study since the late 1990s. And although they occur in the upper atmosphere, their origin is still poorly understood and subject to various hypotheses. However, this type of photography can be of great help to scientists and meteorologists. Indeed, due to the small number of photographs of this phenomenon, each image can become a real gold mine and provide clues to the mysteries that still remain.