The Rocsat-2 spacecraft has been in orbit for two months and is studying high-altitude phenomena.

For many years, reports of red streamers, blue jets and strange diffuse glows seen in the upper reaches of the atmosphere were not taken seriously - rather like sailors’ stories of sea monsters. Over the past 10 years or so videos taken from high-altitude aircraft and the space shuttle have persuaded people that that they may be real.

The phenomena are difficult to study as they occur between 50km and 100km up, too high for most aircraft and too low for satellites. To study them, the Taiwanese government built the Rocsat-2 (Republic of China Satellite 2), which includes a sensor built to gather information about the lights.

The first image was returned on July. It showed red sprites - short fluorescent "tubes" glowing like neon lights - reaching to the ionosphere. Another image showed a brilliant lightning flash with a trio of red sprites above it and a sprite halo encircling it.

No obvious benefits here, just basic science.

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Eudaimonia