Image of The Day

NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Images Asteroid Donaldjohanson

The asteroid Donaldjohanson as seen by the Lucy Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (L’LORRI). This is one of the most detailed images returned by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft during its flyby. This image was taken at 1:51 p.m. EDT (17:51 UTC), April 20, 2025, near closest approach, from a range of approximately 660 miles (1,100 km). The spacecraft’s closest approach distance was 600 miles (960 km), but the image shown was taken approximately 40 seconds beforehand. The image has been sharpened and processed to enhance contrast.

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NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Images Asteroid Donaldjohanson

ISS Sees Thunderstorm Beaming Electromagnetic Pulse Into Area, Producing Gamma Rays and ‘Elves´'

At 8:01 p.m. on October 10, 2018, a bolt of lightning flashed within a storm cloud simply east of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The Worldwide Area Station was passing overhead on the time, and a collection of devices noticed because the bolt produced a flash of gamma radiation—and, concurrently, emitted a glowing ring of ultraviolet and visual gentle within the topmost layer of the environment.

High above the storm clouds, lightning powers gamma-ray flashes and ultraviolet ‘elves‘

Using instruments onboard the International Space Station, researchers have observed millisecond pulses of gamma-rays produced by thunderstorms, clarifying the process by which these flashes are made, and discovering that they can produce an ultraviolet emission known as an "Elve."

DTU-forskere afdækker Klodens ekstreme energiudladninger

Nu er der nyt fra Danmarks store rummission ASIM, som blev sendt i rummet i fjor, hvor DTU Space er videnskabelig leder. Forskerne kan nu forklare mere om de voldsomme fænomener, der opstår i forbindelse med tordenvejr over skyerne. Den nye viden er netop publiceret i det videnskabelige tidsskrift Science.

Scientists unveil new discoveries about Gamma-ray flashes coming from thunderstorms

SAN FRANCISCO—A slew of new discoveries about the mysterious gamma ray flashes that come from Earth’s thunderclouds are being unveiled in presentations at AGU’s 2019 Fall Meeting and in three new studies being published today.

ASIM data becomes available for lightning researchers

Data on lightning phenomena in Space near Earth captured by the Danish Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM), on board the International Space Station (ISS), have now been made available to researchers across the globe.

Hans Christian Ørsted Research Award 2019 goes to DTU space scientist

Lightning scientist Torsten Neubert receives the Hans Christian Ørsted Research Award for his contribution to an understanding of how giant lightning bolts are created in space.

Space-station cameras reveal how thunderstorms trigger gamma-ray bursts

Nature article: Mysterious electrical flashes above storm clouds have long puzzled scientists. “This is a game changer,” says Nikolai Østgaard, a space physicist at the University of Bergen in Norway. He described the findings in a pair of talks at the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics meeting in Montreal, Canada, on 9 and 12 July. Picture: NASA/JSC

How do thunderstorms affect the Earth’s climate?

The Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) was launched last April in an effort to study severe thunderstorms. Just a year later, the observation facility is already providing scientists with a better understanding of the role that thunderstorms play in the Earth’s atmosphere and climate and how lightning is created. Picture: Earth.com

Fireworks of blue lightning and gamma-rays above thunderclouds

After only one year in space, the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) on the International Space Station has given researchers a new understanding of how lightning is created, and how thunderstorms can affect the atmosphere and the climate. Picture: ESA/NASA