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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