Thunderstorms can make for the most amazing scenery, as long as you are far enough away from them to be safe. Then one can simply relax and observe the strange phenomena that nature gives us. Lightning has caused great amazement on humanity since ancient times and when it bursts into the middle of the blackness of the night, it instantly rules everything because with its sparkling contrast it volatilely illuminates the darkness. But none of them are the same, they are all unique in their shape and magnitude, although perhaps the most amazing are those red flashes that appear unexpectedly and disappear just as they arrived, those are the sprite rays.
What are sprite rays?
Sprite rays are not especially rare, but they are the most fleeting that exist. That is why they are not well known except by meteorologists and those photographers of celestial flashes. They are flashes of red and spread like brushstrokes in the sky, there are even some that resemble giant jellyfish that navigate the celestial vault, although they are very difficult to see.
Red spectra, as they are also known, are very different from the lightning that we are used to seeing in electrical discharges from storms. They do occur in conjunction with these, however, they are not born in the same region of the region, which is why they have a very different appearance.
All thunderstorms develop within a layer of the atmosphere known as the troposphere, which rises from 6 to 19 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. But sprite rays occur much further, in the level known as the mesosphere that extends up to 80 kilometers high. For this reason it is very difficult to measure their magnitudes, because if one is observed, it will seem that they are actually very small. But do not be confused by the distance, the true size of these red giants reaches almost 50 kilometers in length. They are truly large and impressive.
Atmospheric defense mechanism
The wild nature of red wraiths is not fully understood yet. But atmospheric electrodynamicists consider that they are often triggered by a very strong lightning bolt and an ordinary one with a positive charge near the ground. It is believed that they are a mechanism that our atmosphere uses to neutralize shit vertically. Although it is an extremely fast process that takes less than a tenth of a second to detonate. So fast that if you’re hunting for one, blink and you’ll miss it.
Fortunately, high-resolution cameras are capable of capturing them, of course as long as they are shuttered at the right time. If you have never observed a lightning sprite this is your chance to delight your senses with the electricity of our planet.