A new paper from the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) explores different, rare kinds of lightning that have been photographed from space. First and foremost, there was blue jet lightning which rises upwards from the clouds. Famous photos of such lightning were taken in February 2019 above the Pacific island Nauru.
In ASIM’s new paper published in Nature, they describe how they capture these phenomena and possibly how they occur. Using cameras, visible and UV spectrum light detectors, and X- and gamma-ray detector’s, ASIM is able to search for electrical interactions to capture space lightning above the clouds.
While the paper discusses blue jet lightning, four smaller forms of space lightning are also explored. The smaller flashes are identified as “elves” and do not project into the stratosphere, but instead say in the first layer of atmosphere known as the troposphere.
There is little known about these varieties of space lightning, but the authors of the article hypothesize that these phenomena occur due to an “electric breakdown” of positively charged and negatively charged parts of storm cloud covers. While there is still much to be discovered about blue jets and other forms of light in space, ASIM’s new breakthroughs and technology are very useful in this pursuit of knowledge.
