Key Takeaways: These are rare lightning-like flashes that shoot from the tops of storm clouds toward space, reaching up to 30 miles into the stratosphere. They are difficult to see from the ground due to their brief nature and cloud cover. In 2019, instruments aboard the International Space Station recorded five blue flashes and a blue jet above a storm cloud near Nauru in the Pacific Ocean. These observations were crucial in understanding this phenomenon. Blue jets are thought to occur when the positively charged upper section of a cloud interacts with a negatively charged layer just above it, leading to a discharge of static electricity in the form of a blue flash. The blue jets observed by the ISS were accompanied by ultraviolet flashes called ELVES, highlighting complex upper-atmosphere electrical activity. Understanding blue jets and other atmospheric phenomena like red sprites is important because they may disrupt communication technologies and impact greenhouse gases and Earth’s ozone layer.
INSIGHT: The Physics of Blue Jets
What do you think of when I say “storms”? Rain? Thunder? Is it a bit of anxiety, knowing storm clouds are coming? Do you realize, however, that on the one hand there may be a storm cloud and yet in all of this crashing about occurs an amazing thing? A phenomenon called blue jets.
Blue jets erupted from storm clouds, forking skyward like otherworldly luminescence. Elevated to unprecedented heights, as high as 30 miles above Earth, they most commonly whore back into the tumult of a tempest. Who would have known these flashes of blue could be so enigmatic?
We didn't see our first blue jets until 2019, thanks to the International Space Station. Spectacular blue flashes were recorded on instruments aboard. They sprang from a storm cloud near Nauru in the Pacific. And how strange is the thought of scientists gazing into monitors, beholding new knowledge born as blinding blue light?
How Do Blue Jets Form?
Under certain conditions, blue jets are produced. Picture a storm cloud: here, the top section carries a positive charge, with an ionic layer above it. This clash between these two forces results in an electrostatic discharge. There is a moment, and then light travels in the infinite sky.
Blue jets, on the other hand— as opposed to typical lightning that we experience which strikes downward (or in some cases between clouds)— ascend. This particular trait has made them intriguing for researchers. The story raises a question, though: why do these jets matter at all? But are they more than a dazzling display of lights?
Understanding Blue Jets is Important
The study of blue jets goes beyond just scientific curiosity. For instance, they disrupt radio waves used in communication technology. Imagine the implications of identifying such intersections in a world where open communication is critical.
They also have their place in climate conversations, according to people like Victor Pasko of Penn State. In addition to affecting the larger layer of greenhouse gases, blue jets could also play a role in maintaining Earth's ozone layer. What if these magic flashes contained tools to explain how well our planet is growing?
REAL-LIFE OBSERVATIONS FROM THE ISS
That data is probably our best bet for determining the shape of blue jets, since it comes from research performed on the International Space Station. Using sophisticated instruments, scientists detected the scatterings during only a few seconds when the jet soared to altitudes of 32 miles over Nauru. Otherworldly effects are visible for only 10 or 20 milliseconds.
Most of us are brought back to catching fireflies by a capture like that — but it's just the magic ever so briefly. However, this just raises more questions. How many others slip under the radar, obscured by clouds?
Relating Upper Atmospheric Research to the Bigger Picture of Understanding
When studying blue jets, it is necessary to examine phenomena such as red sprites. Many advances in studying those high-altitude lightning cousins have been made and are being uncovered by researchers.
Essentially, the clues that can be taken from watching these events could impact future technologies. It opens up new doors in the way we do climate science and how we talk about it. How amazing is that — to consider a grand ballet of Mother Nature's lightning exists inside these storm clouds, this web we think binds us… or perhaps even the fate of our world?
Therefore, the next thunderstorm shows up, be sure to camp out. Take a moment. Perhaps there is a dazzling blue jet out at the ready to light up the night skies. Upon what amazement did the roofs of thunderclouds lead, with their dance? The more we probe and investigate, the closer we get to discovering this key to our universe.
