Sprite Lightning in Slow Motion
Explanation:
What causes sprite lightning?
Mysterious bursts of light in the sky that momentarily
resemble
gigantic jellyfish have been recorded for over 25 years, but their root cause
remains unknown.
Some thunderstorms have them -- most don't.
Recently, however,
high speed videos are better
detailing how
sprites actually develop.
The featured video is fast
enough -- at about 10,000 frames per second -- to
time-resolve
several sprite "bombs" dropping and developing into the
multi-pronged streamers that
appear on
still images.
Unfortunately, the
visual
clues provided by
these videos
do not fully resolve the sprite origins mystery.
They do
indicate
to some researchers,
though, that sprites are more likely to occur when
plasma irregularities
exist in the upper atmosphere.
Astrophysicists:
Browse 900+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code Library
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
