Pafos Press 23 September 2024
The rare meteorological phenomenon of the Red Sprites was managed to be captured again by Angelos Kourieas and George Paraskevaidis
Specifically, on October 22, they achieved 10 records in the maritime area between Cyprus and Turkey, in the midnight to dawn hours with moderate observation conditions. The post was made on the KAIROFILI CYPRUS website.
What are Red Sprites?
"Red sprites" are a rare and spectacular atmospheric phenomenon that occurs high in the atmosphere, above thunderstorms. These are electrical discharges that occur in the upper atmosphere, at altitudes between 50 and 90 kilometers. Usually, they are red in colour and look like lightning, but they differ from traditional lightning that occurs near the Earth's surface. Red Sprites can be visualized as simple columns or look like "jellyfish" in the sky.
Red sprites are created when powerful lightning strikes cause disturbances in the electric field of the atmosphere, which interact with air molecules at high altitudes. The phenomenon lasts for a very short time (a few milliseconds), which is why it is difficult to observe with the naked eye.
Although first reported several decades ago, red sprites were only captured on camera in the 1980s. The phenomenon is linked to other similar atmospheric discharges, such as “blue jets” and “elves” (acronym for Emissions of Light and Very Low Frequency Perturbations due to Electromagnetic Pulse Sources), which also occur high in the atmosphere.
Source: SIGMALIVE
