An astronaut in space has just taken a rare video of a strange phenomenon known as a 'blue jet'
From the large bay windows surrounding the International Space Station's glass-enclosed cupola, Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen caught an electric sight never before captured from space: a giant blue burst of optical activity - called a blue jet - radiating from a thunderstorm over India.
People have been speculating about these "rocket-like" emissions from the tops of thunderclouds for over a century, but it wasn't until 1995 that scientists confirmed their existence after capturing a glimpse of these ejections while flying through a thunderstorm over Arkansas.
Blue jets, along with red sprites - a similar but distinct phenomena recently spotted in an image taken from the ISS - are enormous bursts of electrical discharge spiking upward from storm clouds in the upper atmosphere.
Blue jets emerge from the electrically-charged cores of thunderstorms and can spear 25 to 30 miles upwards in the shape of a cone.
To get a better look of the jet in action, check out this slowed-down version of the video.
Mogensen's 10-day mission (he's the first Dane in history to fly in space) on the International Space Station wasn't just sky watching.
It was also jam-packed with experiments, one of which involved filming massive thunderstorms and giant thunderbolts from space to better our understanding of what happens in the atmosphere above them. Such experiments will also improve our grasp on the basic physics of what causes lightning, and will help improve current climate models.
Check out the entire thunder storm - complete with a blue jet, red sprites, and lightning - from Mogensen's vantage point about 250 miles above Earth.