Lightning from space
Astronaut Nichole Ayers caught this breathtaking image of crimson Jet or Sprite lightning arcing from cloud tops to the edge of space.
Now breathtaking drops an octave, twice, heart wrenching, gut twisting.
This is the morning of July 3rd, 2025, before the flash flooding in the wee hours of July 4th down Guadalupe River that's extinguished the lives of over 100 people and counting, plus all the other life we don't count.
"In this photo, the storm appears to be hovering near the Texas–Mexico border. You can spot the glow of Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston to the northeast, and Torreón, Mexico, to the southwest.
@NASA makes our Earth observation pictures publicly available, so as soon as this one is processed, you can find it here http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov
Our hearts go out to the families affected by the flooding in Texas Hill Country this weekend."
-- https://x.com/Astro_Ayers/status/1940810789830451563
More story and explanation of the TLE phenomenon (transient luminous events):
https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=08&month=07&year=2025
"József Bór, an atmospheric scientist at the Institute of Earth Physics and Space Science in Hungary, was thrilled by the image. "Nichole's photo sets a new standard for space-borne observations of Gigantic Jets," he says. "Such a sharply focused and detailed photo of a Gigantic Jet has never been recorded from space." "
...or married to ground events I wager. To be sure the moment captured is nothing short of stunning entirely on it's own merits. Conjoined to terrestrial and life experiences it... deepens several layers beyond mere words. Behold: Nature.
Discovered by way of Bob Tregilus, https://mastoart.social/@elaterite/114815466301840643