NASA astronaut Nichole ‘Vapor’ Ayers captured a spectacular image of a sprite, a rare form of lightning that shoots up from a thunderstorm.
Ayers currently resides on board the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the SpaceX Crew-10 mission, which launched on March 14.
“Just. Wow,” Ayers wrote on X on July 3. “As we went over Mexico and the U.S. this morning, I caught this sprite.”
Ayers explains that sprites are Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) that happen above clouds and are triggered by intense electrical activity in the thunderstorms below.
“We have a great view above the clouds,” Ayers notes of her floating home approximately 250 miles above the surface of Earth. “Scientists can use these types of pictures to better understand the formation, characteristics, and relationship of TLEs to thunderstorms.”
Fellow astronaut and excellent photographer Don Pettit — who PetaPixel revealed spent a long time trying to capture a sprite from directly above when he was in orbit not long ago — says that, “to record a photo like this takes skill to set up the camera but more than that, the knowledge of what lightning systems are likely to create sprites and the willingness to take 2000-5000 images where only one will record a sprite. Kudos to Nichole for her imagery efforts!”
“When Don Pettit says you did a good job on your astrophotography, you know you did well! It’s like hearing Spielberg say he loved your movie,” replies Frank Graffagnino.
Just. Wow. As we went over Mexico and the U.S. this morning, I caught this sprite.
Sprites are TLEs or Transient Luminous Events, that happen above the clouds and are triggered by intense electrical activity in the thunderstorms below. We have a great view above the clouds, so… pic.twitter.com/dCqIrn3vrA
— Nichole “Vapor” Ayers (@Astro_Ayers) July 3, 2025
Space.com explains that sprites remain a mystery. They are a magnet for photographers thanks to their massive size and unusual form. But that attraction is actually helping scientists understand the phenomenon better.
NASA’s “Spritacular” citizen science project aims to collect observations of sprites and other optical phenomena occurring above thunderstorms. These efforts are helped by astronauts onboard the ISS when they get a picture of a sprite, such as Ayers’s image, which will be analyzed.
Image credits: NASA/Nichole ‘Vapor’ Ayers
