Episode 62 - Blue Lightning: When Storms Touch Space

Episode 62 - Blue Lightning: When Storms Touch Space

From IDA Space Talks by Ingeniørforeningen, IDA

November 6, 2025 · 29 min

About this episode

This episode explores the phenomenon of blue jets, a type of lightning that reaches into space, featuring insights from researcher Dongshuai Li.

Far above the clouds, storms reach into space — creating flashes of mysterious blue light that pulse like veins through the upper atmosphere. First seen by Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen from the International Space Station, these “blue jets” opened an entirely new chapter in lightning research. In this episode, I have invited researcher Dongshuai Li from DTU Space  to tell us about what really happens when lightning goes upward, what these strange discharges reveal about our planet’s atmosphere, and how new space-borne cameras are helping scientists capture the most fleeting sparks in the sky. Host and editor: Tino Tønnesen ------------ Soundclips from Pixabay.com  

People in this episode

Host: Tino Tønnesen

Guest: Dongshuai Li

Topics covered

  • lightning research
  • atmosphere
  • space
  • blue jets
  • storm phenomena

Keywords

  • blue lightning
  • storms
  • space
  • atmosphere
  • lightning
  • research
  • DTU Space

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: DTU Space, Pixabay.com

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