A NASA astronaut showed pictures of a rare light phenomenon taken from the ISS.

American pilot and astronaut of the National Aeronautics and Research Administration (NASA) Nicole Ayers, while on board the International Space Station (ISS), captured a rare atmospheric phenomenon — a sprite, pictures of which she posted on the social network X (former. Twitter)

"It's simple. Wow. When we flew over Mexico and the USA this morning, I caught this sprite," she wrote.

Ayers explained that sprites are short-term light phenomena that can be caused by intense electrical activity during thunderstorms. According to her, they usually occur above the clouds. In addition, the astronaut added that the footage she published could be used by scientists for further research.

Step into the Universe: how a man went into outer space

Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov made his flight 60 years ago.

On December 17, NASA representatives took a photo of a cluster of young stars or a "Christmas tree" in space. The phenomenon, located 2.5 thousand light-years from the planet Earth, was named NGC 2264.