Strange blue blobs swirl through Earth’s atmosphere in stunning astronaut photos But what are they?
Strange blue blobs swirl through Earth’s atmosphere in stunning astronaut photos But what are they?
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An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took a strange photo the world There are two strange blue blobs of light shining through our planet’s atmosphere from space. The gorgeous pair can look otherworldly. But in reality, they are the result of two unrelated natural events that happened at the same time.
The image was captured last year by an unnamed member of the Expedition 66 crew as the ISS passed over the South China Sea. The film was released online on October 9 NASA Earth Observatory (opens in new tab).
The first blob of light, visible at the bottom of the image, is a massive thunderstorm somewhere in the Gulf of Thailand. Lightning strikes are usually difficult to see from the ISS, as they are usually covered by clouds. But this particular strike occurred next to a large, circular gap at the top of the cloud, causing lightning to illuminate the surrounding walls of the cloudy caldera-like structure, creating a striking bright ring.
Related: A ‘blue jet’ of lightning has been seen shooting upwards from the International Space Station
The second blue blob, seen in the upper right of the image, is the result of distorted light from it. the moon. The orientation of Earth’s natural satellite relative to the ISS means the light it reflects the sun passes straight through the planet’s atmosphere, transforming it into a bright blue blob with a faint halo. According to the Earth Observatory, this effect is caused by some of the moonlight scattering in the Earth’s atmosphere.
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Its different colors visible light There are different wavelengths, which affect their interaction with atmospheric particles. Blue light has the shortest wavelength and is therefore the most likely to be scattered, which is why the moon appears blue in this image. The same effect explains why the sky looks blue during the day: because blue wavelengths of sunlight are spread out the most and are more visible to the human eye, NASA (opens in new tab).
Also visible in the photo is a brilliant net of artificial lights from Thailand. Other prominent sources Light pollution The image shows emanations from Vietnam and Hainan Island, China’s southernmost region, although these light sources are largely obscured by clouds. The orange line parallel to Earth’s curvature is the edge of the atmosphere, commonly known as “Earth’s limb” when viewed from space, according to the Earth Observatory.
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