Photos: Earth's Lightning Seen from Space

Lightning as seen from the International Space Station, somewhere over Brazil.

When passing over the Earth in darkness, astronauts aboard the International Space Station often see lightning flashes illuminating the clouds. ESA astronaut André Kuipers captured this lightning flash on June 11, 2012.

Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli captured this image of night lightning on Earth as seen from the International Space Station on Dec. 30, 2010.

Astronaut Paolo Nespoli took this photo of lightning on Earth at night as seen from the International Space Station on Dec. 30, 2010

One of the Expedition 30 crew members aboard the International Space Station photographed this nighttime image featuring a Lyrid meteor, just to the left of center. The space station was over the Gulf of Mexico, and many coastal cities in several states can be seen. Florida is above the center of the image with Cuba to the right. A line of thunderstorms had just passed Cuba when the photo was taken. The bright bluish blobs are clouds illuminated by lightning. This image was released April 22, 2013.

One of the crew members aboard the International Space Station photographed this night view of storm clouds over Southern California. Early morning lightning can be seen as a white blotch just to the right of center. The yellow colored area, beneath the grey clouds, which almost shines because of night lights, is part of the highly populated area of Los Angeles and San Diego. This image was released July 21, 2013.

One of the Expedition 29 crew members aboard the International Space Station, approximately 220 miles above Earth, took this night time picture showing clouds, lightning, airglow, Earth's terminator and lights of civilization along the central west coast of Africa. Nadir coordinates are 9.04 degrees south latitude and 10.18 degrees east longitude. This image was released Sept. 16, 2011.

Lightning in clouds at night is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 7 crewmember onboard the International Space Station. This image was released Sept. 2, 2003.

The Midwestern United States at night with Aurora Borealis is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 29 crew member on the International Space Station. The night skies viewed from the space station are illuminated with light from many sources, including a small white patch of light is almost certainly lightning from a storm on the East coast (top right). This image was released Sept. 29, 2011.