Blue Jet:Astronaut captures clearest footage yet of rare type of lightning

Blue Jet :Elusive and poorly understood blue jet lightning, which shoots upwards from the tops of thunderstorms towards space, has been captured on film in unprecedented detail by astronauts at the International Space Station.

Blue jets are difficult to study because they are rare, unpredictable and last for only fractions of a second. They form high up in the atmosphere and can stretch for tens of kilometres into the stratosphere. Blue jets are not the only rare atmospheric phenomena to be found at such high altitudes – other little-observed events include elves, sprites, and pixies.