© ESA/NASA/IRISS/DTUAstronaut Andreas Mogensen caught a rare glimpse of a blue jet over India while aboard the ISS.
Capturing this beautiful upper atmospheric phenomenon ended up being the highlight of Mogensen's mission aboard the ISS. This was the first time a blue jet has ever been recorded from space.
People have been speculating about these "rocket-like" emissions from the tops of thunderclouds for over a century, but it wasn't until 1995 that scientists confirmed their existence after capturing a glimpse of these ejections while flying through a thunderstorm over Arkansas.
Blue jets, along with red sprites — a similar but distinct phenomena recently spotted in an image taken from the ISS — are enormous bursts of electrical discharge spiking upward from storm clouds in the upper atmosphere.
Blue jets emerge from the electrically-charged cores of thunderstorms and can spear 25 to 30 miles upwards in the shape of a cone.
To get a better look of the jet in action, check out this slowed-down version of the video.
Mogensen's 10-day mission (he's the first Dane in history to fly in space) on the International Space Station wasn't just sky watching.
It was also jam-packed with experiments, one of which involved filming massive thunderstorms and giant thunderbolts from space to better our understanding of what happens in the atmosphere above them. Such experiments will also improve our grasp on the basic physics of what causes lightning, and will help improve current climate models.
Check out the entire thunder storm — complete with a blue jet, red sprites, and lightning — from Mogensen's vantage point about 250 miles above Earth.
In the THOR experiment of the IRISS Mission Andreas Mogensen captures lightning, blue jets and sprites from the International Space Station.
Andreas Mogensen has filmed a thunderstorm over India from the Cupola, a glass compartment underneath the Space Station. The film shows lightning illuminating the clouds, a blue jet (up to 50 km altitude) and Red Sprites (60-80 km altitude).
Comment: More increased electrical activity manifesting. When scientists begin to embrace the winning Electric Universe theory, it will improve their grasp on the "basic physics of what causes lightning"; and they need not be 'puzzled' by the 'bright spots' on Ceres, facts from the Rosetta mission won't be so 'surprising' and the alignment of quasars won't seem so 'spooky'.
The Electric Universe model is clearly explained, with a lot more relevant information, in the book Earth Changes and the Human Cosmic Connection by Pierre Lescaudron and Laura Knight-Jadczyk.