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APOD

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

Lightning Below

Explanation: In May of 1993, the Space Shuttle Columbia orbited the Earth carrying the Spacelab Deutsche 2 (SL-D2) science module and spacelab tunnel seen here riding in the shuttle's payload bay. Below, thunderstorms rage over the cloudy Earth . Several lightning flashes are visible in this high speed photograph as intense bright streaks within the clouds. The lights near the center of the picture, just above the the shuttle's tail, are believed to be Mexico City.

Date December 2, 1995
Credit Credit: NASA, STS-55 Crew.
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.