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Credit & Copyright: Stephane Vetter
(Nuits sacrees,
TWAN)
Explanation:
Mysterious and incredibly brief, red sprites are
seen to occur high above large thunderstorms on planet Earth.
While they have been recorded
from low
Earth orbit or high flying airplanes,
these dancing, lightning-like events were
captured in video frames
from a mountain top perch in northern France.
Taken
during the night of May 28, the remarkably clear,
unobstructed view looks toward a multicell storm system raging
over the English Channel about 600 kilometers away.
Lasting only a few milliseconds,
the red sprite association with
thunderstorms is known.
Still, much remains a mystery about the fleeting apparitions
including the nature of their relation to other
upper atmospheric lightning
phenomena such as blue jets or satellite detected
terrestrial gamma flashes.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: lightning
Publications with words: lightning
See also:
- APOD: 2024 August 13 Á Giant Jet from the International Space Station
- APOD: 2024 June 18 Á Gigantic Jets over Himalayan Mountains
- APOD: 2023 October 2 Á Sprite Lightning in High Definition
- APOD: 2023 September 18 Á The Red Sprite and the Tree
- APOD: 2023 June 25 Á Lightning on Jupiter
- APOD: 2023 April 17 Á ELVES Lightning over Italy
- Star Trails and Lightning over the Pyrenees