An image capturing a red lightning bolt ``red sprite'' that occurs far above the clouds is posted on a website operated by NASA



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Red sprite ' is a luminescent phenomenon that occurs in the mesosphere at an altitude of 50km to 80km, and is also called 'red lightning' because of its appearance. A high-resolution image capturing the appearance of such a red sprite was posted on the Astronomy Picture of the Day , a website operated by NASA and Michigan Technological University.

APOD: 2023 October 2 – Sprite Lightning in High Definition
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231002.html

Red sprite is a luminescent phenomenon that occurs in the mesosphere far above thunderclouds and cumulonimbus clouds.As the name suggests, red sprite is a reddish color, and although it is different from lightning, it is a phenomenon that occurs along with lightning. Based on previous research, it is believed that after a lightning strike, a ball of ionized air about 100 meters in height falls from an altitude of about 80 km, and this causes luminescence.

Below is an image of the red sprite that was actually published in Astronomy Picture of the Day. You can see the lights branching out like sparklers.



Nicolas Escura, the French photographer who took this image, talks about the situation when he photographed the red sprite on Facebook.


Mr. Escura said that he succeeded in photographing a red sprite in the sky above

Castelnaud Castle in Dordogne , France, on the night of September 10th to 11th, 2023. At the time the red sprite occurred, a thunderstorm was falling in the direction the camera was pointing, and the distance from the shooting location to the red sprite was about 196 km.

This is an image that covers a wider area than the one published in Astronomy Picture of the Day. You can see Castelnau Castle in the lower right.



Red sprites were discovered relatively recently in 1989, but in recent years they have been photographed and studied by various scientists and amateur photographers. In August 2023, Slovak astronomers successfully photographed a red sprite that was over 50km wide.

Eerie, ultra-detailed photo of a lightning 'sprite' exposes one of nature's least understood phenomena | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/weather/eerie-ultra-detailed-photo-of-a-lightning-sprite-exposes-one-of-natures-least-understood-phenomena



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