Astronaut Captures Image Of Mysterious Red Sprite High Above The Earth

An astronaut of the European Space Agency has captured the mysterious red light flashing in the sky on camera. Astronaut Andries Mogensen captured these images with a high-resolution camera while he was using the camera for the Thor-Davis experiment at the Danish Technical University. This experiment is done to investigate the lightning flashes in the upper atmosphere of the Earth, to find out what effect it has on greenhouse gases, and what is their contribution to global warming.

The red light seen is called red sprite. Its measurement is said to be 14×26 kilometers. BBC’s Report According to Oliver Chenerion, the scientist leading the experiment, these pictures captured by Andreas are amazing.

What is red sprite?
This is an extraordinary phenomenon called a transient luminous event. Usually it is called red lightning. It falls above storm clouds which are at a height of 40 to 80 kilometers above the earth’s surface. Ordinary electricity travels from the clouds to the earth, but it takes the reverse path. It moves through the clouds and up into space.

It flashes very fast which is less than a millisecond. In such a situation, it is very difficult for any scientist to capture it. Due to which there is difficulty in studying it. Since this phenomenon occurs above storm clouds, it is very difficult to observe from Earth. It can be seen better from space. Red sprites are not the only such seasonal phenomenon; blue jets are also another example of a transient luminous event.