An astronaut aboard the International Space Station has captured a bizarre image of EarthTwo strange blue blobs light up from space, glinting in the planet’s atmosphere.
It may seem like a fairytale pair. They are actually the result of two natural phenomena that happened simultaneously.
Unnamed Expedition 66 crewmember captured the image last year as the ISS passed through the South China Sea. The image was published online on October 9, by NASA’s Earth Observatory.
The largest blob of light is at the bottom of this image. lightningStrike somewhere in the Gulf of Thailand
Because lightning strikes are usually obscured by clouds, they can be difficult to spot from the ISS. However, this strike was located next to a large gap in the clouds’ tops, which allowed the lightning to illuminate surrounding structures, creating a striking, luminous ring.
Related: International Space Station has spotted upward-shooting lightning from the blue jet
The warped light that emitted from the sun caused the second blue blob to appear in the upper right corner of the image. Moon.
The ISS’s orientation relative to Earth’s natural satellite means that it reflects the same light back from the ISS. sunIt passes through the atmosphere of the planet, which transforms it into an intense blue blob with fuzzy halo.
Earth Observatory says that this is due to some moonlight scattering tiny particles in Earth’s atmosphere.
Different colors Visible lightThey have different wavelengths which can affect their interaction with atmospheric particles. The wavelength of blue light is the shortest and most likely to scatter. The MoonIn this image, you can see the blue color.
The same effect is responsible for why the sky appears blue at daytime. Blue wavelengths of sunlight scatter most light and are therefore more visible to the eye. NASA.
A glowing web of artificial light from Thailand is also visible in the photograph. Another source of artificial light is from Thailand. Light pollutionThese light sources can be seen in the image as they come from Vietnam and Hainan Island. This is the southernmost part of China. However, clouds often obscure these light sources.
According to Earth Observatory, the orange halo paralleling the curvature is the Earth’s edge. It is also known as Earth’s limb when seen from space.
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This article was originally published in Live Science. Learn more Original article here.
