Sprites are large scale electrical discharges that occur high above the trailing stratiform anvil/precipitation regions of active thunderstorm systems. They are a particular type of electrical breakdown[3] characteristic of the early stages of lightning discharges (the streamer stage), but lacking the later stages of leaders and return strokes. Sprites appear as luminous reddish-orange, plasma-like flashes, that last longer (typically a few milliseconds) than normal lower stratospheric discharges (typically about 0.1-0.2 milliseconds). The red color of sprites has been determined from spectrographic measurements to be due to optical fluorescence from neutral molecular nitrogen in the air. They are triggered by the transient electric fields associated with discharges of positive lightning between the cloud and the ground, and are generally delayed behind the stroke by a few milliseconds. Sprites are typically centered above the causative lightning strokes, but may be laterally displaced from them by up to 50 km (30 miles).
Sprites possess complex, vertically striated internal structure, giving rise to a quite varied range of visual shapes. Their apparent visible source altitude is about 75 km (47 mi), and from here they often develop both downward "tendrils" that extend to about 50 km (31 mi), and upward "branches" that extend to about 90 km (56 mi). Optical imaging using a 10,000 frames per second high speed camera shows (Geophysical Research Lett. Vol.34 (2007)) that sprites are actually clusters of small, decameter-sized (10-100 m, 30-300 ft) balls of ionization that move downward, followed a few milliseconds later by a separate set of upward moving balls of ionization, and traveling up to ten percent of the speed of light.
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Sprites are sometimes, but not always, preceded, by about 1 millisecond, by a sprite halo, a pancake-shaped region of weak, transient optical emissions approximately 50 km (37 mi) across and 10 km (6 mi) thick centered at about 70 km (44 mi) altitude above the same lightning stroke that produces sprites. Sprite halos are thought to be produced by the same physical process that produces sprites, but for which the ionization is too weak to cross the threshold required for streamer formation. Sprite halos have previously been mistaken for ELVES, due to their visual similarity and short duration.[4][5]
Since their 1989 discovery, sprites have been imaged tens-of-thousands of times, from the ground, from aircraft, and from satellites, the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. They have been observed over North, Central and South America, Europe, Australia, the Sea of Japan, and Asia. Sprites are believed to be a ubiquitous feature of most large thunderstorm systems, and to have occurred along with lightning from the earliest days of the formation of the earth's atmosphere.
[edit] Sprite-implicated aircraft damage
Sprites are occasionally held responsible for otherwise unexplained accidents involving high altitude vehicular operations above thunderstorms. One example of this is the malfunction of a NASA stratospheric balloon launched on June 6, 1989 from Palestine, Texas. The balloon suffered an uncommanded payload release while flying at 120,000 feet over a thunderstorm near Graham, Texas. Months after the accident, a post-flight investigation concluded that a "lighting bolt" traveling upwards from the clouds provoked the incident [6]. The attribution of the accident to a sprite was evidently made retroactively by several years, since this term was not coined until late 1993. Because of the comparatively low altitude of the balloon (120,000 ft = 37 km = 23 mi), whatever thunderstorm-related discharge may have been a causative factor in the accident, it was more likely to have been one of several other types of stratospheric discharges known to occur, such as Blue Jets, rather than the higher altitude (50-90 km) sprites.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper-atmospheric_lightning#Sprites
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Time lapse aurora from ISS, HDby benwl162,937 views
Couldn't see it at first because of the stupid Kellogg's ad in front of it. I won't be buying their Frosted Mini-Wheats with a touch of fruit (in the middle).
tritanopia 9 months ago
ths is how i think elves work: what happens when you turn on a lamp? what do you see on the ceiling? a circle of projected light. if u ask me elves are the exact same thing: you culd look at ut atmosphere as a sort of "ceiling". thats why elves are so faint
all this is just my guess but cmon it makes sense dosnt it? lol
MetalMonarchy 10 months ago
you have a good description of sprites....get into blue jets, elves, too. They all occur at different altitudes above the the thunderstorm (mainly supercells) but they are very fascinating along with they different types of lightning that occurs in the lower atmosphere. The Earth is electrically charged but that thought doesnt occur to us. Lightning also causes other types of electrical phenomena to occur, an example is the Schumann Resonance. There is so much to learn in geophysics
JulianneTrout 1 year ago
@1RadicalOne yes they someimtes "dance" one by one ain a single direction. theres an entire "modern marvels" episode on this on the history channel. i watched it and i was fascinated :P
sweetsongman1 1 year ago
There is. I saw a documentary, they captured rows of them, moving in a line.
1RadicalOne 2 years ago
there needs to be some 1000fps footage of this stuff if there isn't already
pyromodder 2 years ago
Wow is this your own video? that's a big stuff there.
rochelimit55555 3 years ago
it's about an atmospheric phenomenon called "sprites"
ImJustSkyo 3 years ago
First view and comment! Haha just kidding. What is this video about?
kockgunner 3 years ago