NASA shares picture containing blue blobs taken from ISS, netizen call it 'perfection'
The picture shared by NASA was captured in 2021 by an unnamed member of Expedition 66 when the astronaut was orbiting over Southeast Asia.
- Science News
- 2 min read
An astronaut onboard the International Space Station (ISS) captured a picture of Earth's limb while orbiting over Southeast Asia. NASA Earth has shared the image taken by the astronaut aboard the ISS on Instagram. The picture shows two blue blobs of light illuminating Earth's atmosphere, one over the Gulf of Thailand and the other on the horizon near the South China Sea.
The image was captured in 2021 by an unnamed member of Expedition 66 while the astronaut was orbiting over Southeast Asia. The first blob of light is visible at the bottom of the image. In an Instagram post, NASA Earth noted that a blob of "electric blue light from a lightning strike" over the Gulf of Thailand illuminated the storm clouds from below. The lightning strikes are usually difficult to witness from the ISS as they are covered by clouds, LiveScience reported. However, the particular strike happened due to a circular gap in the top of the clouds.
Blob spotted in image captured by astronaut onboard ISS
NASA Earth in the Instagram post further said that a "spiderweb of white and orange nighttime light" is witnessed across Thailand and Vietnam. NASA further explained that faint light in the background of the image outline the coastal cities of southern China. The second blob is visible in the top right of the image is viewed due to the Moon's warped light, as per the LiveScience report. The light that reflects from the sun goes directly through the atmosphere of the plant and turns it into a bright blue blob. The moonlight scattering off tiny particles on Earth has caused the phenomenon. The NASA Earth Observatory in the blog post said, "The Vietnamese coast and Thailand anchor the centre of the image."
Netizens call it 'amazing'
Since being shared on Instagram, the picture has garnered over 23,000 likes and tons of reactions from netizens. Social media users took to the comments section to share their views regarding the picture captured from ISS. One user commented, "The blue cloud is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen." Another user wrote, "Amazing." A third user commented, "Excellent." Check out some user reactions:
Advertisement
