7 ms·
the phenomenon of "red sprites", massive discharges of electricity upwards into the ionosphere that counter every single lightning strike, are only now being ob
by houseplant 2y ago
the phenomenon of "red sprites", massive discharges of electricity upwards into the ionosphere that counter every single lightning strike, are only now being observed and photographed.
these energy ejections are SO powerful, they temporarily cause miniature aurora displays for a split second, by ionizing the same layer of the atmosphere where they appear. it's amazing to see photos of it.
- bguebert 2y agoHere's an article with some pictures in case anyone else was curious about red sprites like I was. https://earthsky.org/earth/definition-what-are-lightning-sprites/ https://earthsky.org/earth/definition-what-are-lightning-spr...
- dylan604 2y agothat shot with them aligned with Milky Way is spectacular
- bguebert 2y agoyeah, its pretty cool how most of these photos they were trying to take a picture of something else and the red sprites just happened to be in the right place because of a storm front moving in.
- mrguyorama 2y agoThe wikipedia page actually has some incredible images as well, including several from space that show their scale and position in the atmosphere (high up) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprite_(lightning) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprite_(lightning)
- garrettgarcia 2y agoSprites and similar phenomena have been reported for many years by pilots and others, but scientists didn't believe them until recently because it didn't fit their flawed models. It's similar how scientists didn't believe centuries of stories about rogue waves from mariners until one was recorded with a buoy in 1995. Pecos Hank, the best storm chaser on Youtube, has recorded beautiful video of sprites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGPQ5kzJ9Tg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGPQ5kzJ9Tg