In Pics: NASA Shares Mesmerizing Astronomical Phenomenon Captured Near Himalayas

NASA, this time, shared a captivating image showing gigantic jets soaring from a thunderstorm, called Sprites, towards the Himalayas in China and Bhutan.

NASA

According to weather.com, gigantic jets pack 50 times the power of a regular lightning strike and can travel as high as 80 kilometres above the Earth's surface.

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"Pictured here are gigantic jets shooting up from a thunderstorm last week toward the Himalayan Mountains in China and Bhutan. The composite image captured four long jets that occurred only minutes apart. Gigantic jets, documented only in this century, are a type of lightning discharge that occurs between some thunderstorms and the Earth's ionosphere high above them," NASA wrote in the image description.

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NASA explained that these gigantic jets are an unusual type of lightning that is much different from regular cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning.

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The bottoms of gigantic jets appear similar to a cloud-to-above strike called blue jets, while the tops appear similar to upper-atmosphere red sprites," NASA said.

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The incredible dance of red sprites above the storms in Argentina on December 17, 2023.

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Unbelievable sprites occurring over the powerful MCS in Oklahoma last night. I’m still at a loss for words after this one.

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As these jets typically shoot upwards from the storm tops into the ionosphere, they can often be seen from hundreds of kilometres away under the right conditions.

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