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Lightning
A lightning bolt is a very dense, atmospheric plasma. The image shows a 65-foot-tall sycamore tree that is lit from top to bottom by a direct lightning strike. Lightning often damages or destroys trees, but this one in Alabama is thriving 12 years after the event.
The picture, shot from a pickup truck, is considered by experts one of the better photographs ever taken of a lightning strike.
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Lightning in nature
Lightning research
Lightning strikes somewhere on the surface of the earth about 100 times every second and poses a threat not only on the ground but also in the air. Instituions such as NASA actively pursue lightning research as it has a direct effect on day-to-day operations. The avoidance of lightning strikes to a spacecraft during launch relies heavily on the ability of meteorologists to accurately forecast and interpret lightning hazards to NASA vehicles under varying weather situations. Severe hazards for NASA due to lightning have been well documented. One major incident occurred during the 1969 launch of the Apollo 12 mission when lightning briefly knocked out vital spacecraft electronics.
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