Genesis of blue lightning into the stratosphere detected from ISS

Dark clouds, the smell of rain on a hot sidewalk, the flashes of intense light followed by a loud crackling and then a low, rolling thunder—who doesn't love a good summer thunderstorm? We've all seen one, heard one, or ...

Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin rocket makes 12th test flight

Blue Origin, the space company owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, launched the 12th crewless test of its New Shepard rocket on Wednesday, pushing the first flights with passengers to 2020.

Image: A rare optical phenomenon spotted from orbit

Despite humankind's scientific prowess there are still many phenomena that defy explanation or a common agreement on why something happens. A 'glory' is a rare optical phenomenon that is mostly seen by pilots and mountain ...

A display of lights above the storm

In 2015, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen was onboard the International Space Station (ISS), photographing the tops of thunderstorms from Earth orbit. And he saw something very interesting indeed.

Blue jets studied from ISS

For years, their existence has been debated: elusive electrical discharges in the upper atmosphere that sport names such as red sprites, blue jets, pixies and elves. Reported by pilots, they are difficult to study as they ...

Image: Spooky lightning from orbit

ESA astronaut Tim Peake took this image circling Earth 400 km up in the International Space Station. He commented: "Sometimes looking down on Earth at night can be kinda spooky."