NASA Astronaut Captures Rare Red Sprite Phenomenon From ISS [See Photo]

A NASA astronaut was delighted to share a rare event he witnessed from the International Space Station -- the red sprite phenomenon.

Red Sprite Phenomenon From ISS

Matthew Dominick, a US Navy test pilot and NASA astronaut, took a trip to X, formerly Twitter, last week and shared a snap of the Earth from the ISS view. The snaps featured noticeable blue lights and a red light -- which are the red sprites.

According to Dominick, he was "super lucky" when shooting a timelapse of a lightning storm off the coast of South Africa a few weeks ago. One of the frames captured a rare red sprite. However, his knowledge about it was limited, so he asked the experts for more details.

The photo was taken on June 3 around 9:34 p.m. GMT. He used a 50 mm focal length for the image.

Many were impressed with the photo, with one saying it was "incredible!" Another found the shot "spectacular."

According to Michael B. Smith, the vertical height was interesting. He also suggested that the red color meant an interaction with oxygen.

Blue jets and red sprites are light streaks that appear above thunderstorms and are connected to regular lightning in the thunderclouds underneath them. The underlying causes of both phenomena are unknown.

Red sprites typically appear over a wide area between 40 and 90 kilometers (approximately 25 to 55 miles) in height practically instantly. This region covers a large portion of the ionospheric D region (between 70 and 90 km, or roughly 40 and 55 miles in altitude), as well as the majority of the mesosphere, which is the region of the atmosphere between about 50 and 80 km (30 and 50 miles) in altitude.

Blue jets are small cones of blue light that shoot out of the tops of thunderclouds at surprisingly slow speeds (around 60 miles per second, or 100 km/s).

On low-light television recordings, red sprites appear reddish, and blue tendrils have been seen trailing beneath them. Research on both phenomena is ongoing.

Are Sprites Optical Phenomena?

The scientific literature began to publish reports of optical phenomena above thunderstorms in the late 1800s. A commercial airline pilot made the first recorded aerial observation of Fiji in the 1950s (Wright, 1950).

The first person to attempt to physically explain these events was CTR Wilson, who is recognized as the father of lightning theory. These events were never documented on camera until 1989.

A University of Minnesota team was testing a low-light TV camera designed to sound rockets when they captured a dual upward flash from far-off cloud tops.

The term "sprite" was first coined by University of Alaska professor Davis Sentman and was first used in writing by W.A. Lyons in 1994. He claimed that the term "sprite" is appropriate to describe their appearance and is non-judgemental as to the physics of the phenomena.

Sentman, who gave the name, claimed it came from their fairy-like characteristics. The term is brief and whimsically suggestive of their transient existence.

Sprites have a duration of roughly 5 to 300 milliseconds and are linked to positive cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning discharge. They typically have a composition that is columnar and highly structured.

The bottom tendrils of sprites change from red to blue as they descend in altitude, while most of their upper body is red. Molecular nitrogen is excited, resulting in these hues (the strongest lines in the spectrum are 650-680nm and 750-780nm).

Sprites from huge thunderclouds are connected with positive CG strokes. Usually, these are substantial discharges. Out of all lightning, only 10% have positive CG.

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