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Credit & Copyright: Mike Hollingshead
(Extreme Instability)
Explanation:
What are those red streaks in the sky?
While photographing unexpected auroras over a distant thunderstorm, something extraordinary
happened: red sprites.
This brief instance of rarely imaged high-altitude lightning
flashed so bright that it was witnessed by several people independently.
Pictured over
Minnesota, USA in May 2013,
these red sprites likely followed an extremely powerful low-altitude
conventional lightning bolt.
Captured in the
featured frame
are a house and electrical pole in the foreground, thick clouds in the lower
atmosphere, a
lightning storm on the horizon,
distant red
sprites and
green
aurora in the upper atmosphere,
and distant stars from our local neighborhood of the
Milky Way Galaxy.
The spectacular image
is thought to be only the
second known case of sprites and auroras photographed
together,
and possibly the first in true color.
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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: aurora - lightning
Publications with words: aurora - lightning
See also:
- APOD: 2025 July 27 Á Lightning over the Volcano of Water
- APOD: 2025 January 7 Á A New Years Aurora and SAR Arc
- APOD: 2024 December 8 Á Aurora around Saturns North Pole
- APOD: 2024 October 16 Á Colorful Aurora over New Zealand
- APOD: 2024 October 13 Á Aurora Timelapse Over Italian Alps
- Northern Lights, West Virginia
- Aurora Australis and the International Space Station