Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2019 September 18

                      Gigantic Jet Lightning over India
                  Image Credit & Copyright: Hung-Hsi Chang

   Explanation: Yes, but can your lightning bolt do this? While flying
   from Munich to Singapore earlier this month, an industrious passenger
   took images of a passing lightning storm and caught something
   unexpected: gigantic jet lightning. The jet was captured on a single
   3.2-second exposure above Bhadrak, India. Although the gigantic jet
   appears connected to the airplane's wing, it likely started in a more
   distant thundercloud, and can be seen extending upwards towards Earth's
   ionosphere. The nature of gigantic jets and their possible association
   with other types of Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) such as blue jets
   and red sprites remains an active topic of research.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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