Astronaut Captures Symbol of Elusive ‘Crimson Sprite’ Top Above The Earth

An astronaut captured a shocking {photograph} of an especially uncommon lightning phenomenon referred to as a “pink sprite” — which is never visual from Earth. Ecu Area Company (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen captured a photograph and pictures of the uncommon electric discharge top above the Earth the use of the most important digital camera as a part of the Thor-Davis experiment at Danish Technical College (DTU). Past the clouds is an engaging global. What you spot here’s a image of a pink sprite over a thunder cloud that I took as a part of the Thor-Davis experiment from @DTUSpace ⚡Crimson sprites are a part of the uncommon phenomena referred to as Brief Luminous Occasions, ceaselessly shortened TLEs,… %.twitter.com/AA4h8anUIf — Andreas Mogensen (@Astro_Andreas) November 24, 2023 The experiment is learning lightning within the higher setting and the have an effect on this may have on greenhouse gasoline ranges, which give a contribution to international warming. A Digicam That Takes 100,000 Pictures In line with 2d As a part of the Thor-Davis experiment, Mogensen heads to the Global Area Station’s (ISS) Cupola observatory module each and every Saturday to try to {photograph} storms from Earth.
The ISS orbits Earth at a peak of round 250 miles, which means the distance station makes round 16 journeys round Earth each and every unmarried day. Remaining week, Mogensen grabbed the distance station’s “Davis digital camera” as he noticed a thunderstorm brewing over Earth. The astronaut controlled to seize {a photograph} and pictures of a pink sprite over a thunder cloud. “Crimson sprites are a part of the uncommon phenomena referred to as Brief Luminous Occasions, ceaselessly shortened TLEs, that may seem over thunder clouds,” Mogensen writes on X (previously referred to as Twitter). “The pink sprites shape round 40 to 80 km [25 – 50 miles] above flooring and as you’ll be able to see within the video from the Davis digital camera, the pink sprites seem after the thunder has struck and far upper up. “The Davis digital camera is particular in that it does now not take an image like an ordinary digital camera, however just like the retina in our eyes this is delicate to adjustments in mild, permitting it to take as much as the an identical of 100,000 photos according to 2nd.” Scientists estimate the scale of the pink sprite within the {photograph} shot by way of Mogensen is kind of 8.7 by way of 16.2 miles (14 by way of 26km) in measurement. Hardly ever Noticed From Earth A pink sprite — which may be infrequently known as pink lights — is an instance of a outstanding climate match referred to as a Brief Luminous Tournament (TLE).
Lightning flashes in most cases move downward from the clouds to the bottom. On the other hand, a pink sprite is going within the different path, going into the ambience, a little like backwards lightning. As a result of pink sprits shape above thunder clouds, they’re now not simply studied from the bottom, and are most commonly observed from house. Symbol credit: All pictures by way of Ecu Area Company (ESA)

Author: OpenAI