Lightning from above

Across the atmosphere of Earth, lightning flashes about 50 times per second. That’s 4.3 million times a day and roughly 1.5 billion times a year. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have a unique perspective from which to view it.

The photo above, taken by an astronaut in 2011, shows a lightning flash beneath a thunderhead on January 9, 2011, from a bit to the side and a long, long way up.