Light Blue Balls Appear In A Photo Taken From Space; Understand What They Are

An astronaut on board International Space Station (ISS) took a picture while circling over Southeast Asia, capturing two bright blue orbs, one just over the South China Sea (the tallest in the image) and the other over the Gulf of Thailand.

According to NASA’s Earth Observatory, the larger blue ball appearing at the bottom of the image is a bright flash over the Gulf of Thailand. It is generally rare to see lightning from within the ISS as clouds obscure this type of event. However, in photography, this phenomenon occurred next to a large gap that allowed the ring of light to form.

learn more

The smaller sphere at the top of the photo is the moon. Light reflected back from the sun goes straight through Earth’s atmosphere, and this phenomenon turns the moon into a pale bluish patch.

The Vietnamese coast and Thailand anchor the center of the image (see below). For comparison, the distance from Hainan to Kunming, a city in southern China, is over 800 kilometers.

In the background of the photo, the circular shape of Hainan Island China’s southernmost province is outlined by the lights of its coastal cities. Millions of years ago, Hainan was connected to the mainland. Then a rift formed in the Hainan Straits, separating the two landmasses. Today, Hainan is about 20 kilometers from mainland China.

In several places in the image, storm clouds blur the city lights in tones of white and orange. Thailand’s landscape is illuminated by the lights of the cities of Ubon Ratchathani, Amnat Charoen and Yasothon and the road network that connects them. Inland along the coast of Vietnam, a dark band covers less populated areas of southern Laos.

2 of 2 In this image it is possible to understand the position of the blue spheres in relation to the Earth’s geography — Photo: NASA Earth Obsrvatory

In this image it is possible to understand the position of the blue spheres in relation to the Earth’s geography — Photo: NASA Earth Obsrvatory