S07 → N400
The Spike of Fascinating & Unexpected
SPIKE 35
→ RED SPRITE.
© 1. McDonald Observatory/Stephen Hummel — Red jellyfish sprite from Mt. Locke, Texas, on July 2, 2020 / 2. Martin Popek — TLE observer IAP CAS Prague Station Nydek / 3. Yohan Laurito — Red sprites (also called farfadets) captured in the Var skies / 4. Stephane Vetter — Nebraska Red Sprite / 5. Jesper Grønne/S&T Online Photo Gallery — Red Sprite in Danmark / 6. Paul M. Smith / 7. Doug Parker / 8. Arnaud Besançon / 9. Global Hydrology and Climate Center — Red sprite (upper-atmospheric lightning or transient luminous event) / 10. Yohan Laurito / 11. ESA/DTU/A. Mogensen — Equipped with a specialized event-based camera, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen managed to capture this picture of a red sprite in October 2023 / 12. & 13. Paul Smith / 14. Maxime Villaeys / 15. Abestrobi.
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Red sprites are thought to be caused by the discharge of lightning within thunderstorms, particularly in the form of positive cloud-to-ground lightning or intra-cloud lightning. When intense lightning strikes occur, electrical charges in the atmosphere become redistributed, creating powerful electric fields that extend upward into the mesosphere. Under certain atmospheric conditions, these electric fields can induce the ionisation and excitation of gases in the mesosphere, leading to the formation of red sprites. The reddish-orange colour of red sprites is attributed to the emission of light by excited nitrogen molecules in the atmosphere. They are often accompanied by other types of transient luminous events (TLEs), such as blue jets and elves. While red sprites appear as red tendrils or columns above thunderstorms, blue jets are blue-coloured cones that shoot upwards from the tops of thunderclouds, and elves are rapidly expanding disk-shaped glows occurring at the edge of space.
Red sprites are difficult to observe from the ground due to their brief duration, low luminosity, and their occurrence at high altitudes above thunderstorms. They are best observed from a distance, such as from aircraft, high-altitude balloons, or space-based platforms. The first documented observation of a red sprite occurred in 1989 and was captured accidentally during a low-light television recording of a thunderstorm from the Space Shuttle. On July 6, 1989, while observing a thunderstorm over the Midwest United States, astronauts on the Space Shuttle Discovery filmed a series of mysterious red flashes above the storm clouds. These flashes, later identified as red sprites, appeared as brief, reddish-orange bursts of light extending upwards from the thunderstorm cloud tops into the mesosphere.
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→ Sourced from: SYSTEM 04 (Poutchka Patrol)
→ Stored online: N400 Spikes Repository
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→ Search log: Google images / Paul Smith Gallery
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