NASA released stunning images showing gigantic jets soaring from a thunderstorm towards the Himalayas in China and Bhutan. Showing four extended jets within minutes of one another, the composite image was published on NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day last week.
The ionosphere, or layer of the atmosphere that is ionized by solar and cosmic radiation and thunderstorms are separated by this lightning discharge, which NASA says was only recorded in the 21st century.
"Pictured here are gigantic jets shooting up from a thunderstorm last week toward the Himalayan Mountains in China and Bhutan. The composite image captured four long jets that occurred only minutes apart. Gigantic jets, documented only in this century, are a type of lightning discharge that occurs between some thunderstorms and the Earth's ionosphere high above them," NASA said in the image description.
NASA clarified that, in contrast to typical cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning, these enormous jets are an uncommon form of lightning. "The bottoms of gigantic jets appear similar to a cloud-to-above strike called blue jets, while the tops appear similar to upper-atmosphere red sprites," claimed the space agency.
Furthermore, massive jets may reach up to 80 kilometres above Earth's surface and possess 50 times the strength of a typical lightning strike, according to weather.com.
Despite continued investigation, the specific mechanics and triggers for these beautiful jets remain unknown. However, the space agency clarified that their significance in balancing the electrical charge across different layers of the atmosphere is well known.
According to the NASA, the best opportunity to see this event is to see a severe but distant rainstorm from a clear vantage point. Under the correct conditions, these jets may be seen hundreds of kilometers distant as they often fly upwards from storm tops into the ionosphere, according to the report.
Meanwhile, in a similar occurrence in 2019, a flying passenger captured a photo of a massive jet lightning visible beyond the plane's wing. NASA said that the jet lightning was taken in a single 3.2-second exposure above Bhadrak, India.
(With inputs from agencies)
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