Скачать или смотреть Moment of Science: Sprites & Other Mysterious Lights in Our Upper Atmosphere

Episode 120:

Nearly 30 years ago, scientists in aircraft miles above the ground finally managed to capture a phenomenon never before confirmed on film. This flash of red light, lasting no longer than a few milliseconds, was the first color photograph of a sprite. It doesn’t look at all like the ones in a storybook, but they’re just as mystical, mysterious, and elusive.

Over the years more and more of these red flashes have been recorded, alongside other fleeting flashes of color above clouds. Scientists gave these events whimsical names such as ELVES, SPRITES, TROLLS, blue jets. All now classified as as Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), a much more scientific acronym for these short-lived electrical discharges in our upper atmosphere.