An ISS astronaut captured a stunning image of the atmosphere of Earth as it glowed with red lights, which are referred to as “red sprites.” These atmospheric phenomena were spotted during a thunderstorm off South Africa’s coast.
According to NASA, red Sprites are produced by the interactions between lightning and the atmosphere.
Super lucky a few weeks ago when shooting a timelapse of a lightning storm off the coast of South Africa. One of the frames in the timelapse had a red sprite. A rare event. My knowledge is pretty much just from Wikipedia but I want to know more.
50mm lens, f1.2, 1/5s, ISO 3200 pic.twitter.com/CU1JpMwE8u
— Matthew Dominick (@dominickmatthew) June 20, 2024
These bright and colorful particles can last for a brief period of time, but they can be enormous.
Unlike regular lightning bolts, which usually descend from the clouds, a red Sprite tends to move inversely into the atmosphere.
Matthew Dominick, a NASA astronaut, was able to capture the remarkable moment while shooting a timelapse video of a lightning storm off South Africa’s coast a couple of weeks ago.
Although he was aware of the phenomenon, he wanted to know more about it.
The image shows a line of thunderstorms with red lights visible over the storm’s closest location.
During timelapses, ISS crew members can capture TLEs, such as these red Sprites, by taking photos of them with wide focal lengths.
Data collected by instruments aboard the station can be used by researchers on Earth.
The reaction to the image was quite positive. Many of the comments posted on the site praised the astronaut for capturing the atmospheric phenomenon.
They also noted its interesting vertical structure and how red interacts with oxygen.
One user even noted that he usually doesn’t find such images posted by NASA.
