Electrifying photo: Lightning and the gleaming eye of Cyclone Bansi from the International Space Station

It belongs in the meteorological image hall of fame: a hauntingly stunning photo of lightning filling the eye of a storm.

Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti captured this rare instance aboard the International Space Station earlier this week as Cyclone Bansi churned through the southern Indian Ocean.

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The lightning reveals the cyclone’s beautiful structure – from the stadium effect within the eyewall (clouds of the eyewall curving outward with altitude) to the tight spiral bands surrounding it.

The weather community has been oohing and aahing over this photo since it lit up Twitter Saturday night.

“One of the most extraordinary, surreal meteorological images ever,” exclaimed meteorologist Stu Ostro on Facebook

Declared Wunderground meteorologist Jeff Masters: “One of the most incredible photographs ever of a tropical cyclone…”

Cristoforetti also posted a companion photo offering a wider view of the lightning-infused storm:

#Bansi a few days ago, w/ lighting brightening up the eye of the cyclone. #Bansi con l'occhio del ciclone illuminato. pic.twitter.com/jzgUT4v6sc
— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) January 17, 2015

The photos appear to have been taken earlier this week when the cyclone was near peak intensity, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph – the equivalent of a category 4 hurricane. (What are called cyclones in the southern Indian ocean are the same things as hurricanes in the tropical Atlantic).

On Friday, I posted this dramatic daylight view of the storm from NASA:

Bansi has since weakened and no longer features such a symmetric appearance and well-defined center. It is forecast to dissipate by early next week over the open ocean.