Rare gigantic jets witnessed over Himalayas

Gigantic jets, a type of lightning discharge that occurs between some thunderstorms and the ionosphere, have been documented only in the 21st century.

Gigantic jets are an unusual type of lightning that are different from the regular cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning. (X/@apod)

A rare lightning event shared by NASA’s Astronomy of the Day last week showed gigantic jets shooting up from a thunderstorm towards the Himalayas in China Bhutan.

The four long jets that occurred within a span of minutes depicted an unusual type of lightning that is different from regular cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning. This lightning discharge, only recorded in the 21st century, occurs between some thunderstorms and the Earth’s ionosphere.

Further, gargantuan gigantic jets pack 50 times the power of a regular lightning strike, according to weather.com, and can travel as high as 80 kilometres above the Earth’s surface.

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The bottom of a gigantic jet appears similar to a cloud-to-above strike called blue jets, while the top resembles upper-atmosphere red sprites. According to NASA, these jets reduce charge imbalance between different parts of Earth’s atmosphere.

Back in August last year, Puerto Rico-based photographer Frankie Lucena spotted this rare phenomenon emerging from a storm system that would evolve into Hurricane Franklin. Gigantic jets were also seen over Odisha’s Bhadrak from an airborne plane in 2018.

The nature of gigantic jets and their possible association with other types of Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), such as blue jets and red sprites, remains an active topic of research.

How to spot a gigantic jet? Watch out for a powerful but distant thunderstorm from a clear location.