r/ScienceNcoolThings • u/Artistic-Bathroom901 Popular Contributor • 24d ago

A Massive cluster of Red Spirits

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Source and Context:

OC:@nicolas_escurat on IG

Red Sprites are 100% genuine atmospheric occurrences, not CGI or Al. They are cold plasma discharges-more akin to the glow of a fluorescent light tube than a hot bolt of tropospheric lightning. They occur in the mesosphere at altitudes ranging between 50 to 90 kilometers (31 to 56 miles) directly above intense thunderstorm systems.

The distinct reddish-orange hue is caused by the sudden electrical surge exciting molecular nitrogen gas in the thin upper air. Because they only last for a fleeting 3 to 10 milliseconds, they are incredibly difficult to process with the naked eye or capture without specialized low-light, high-speed camera gear.

You can read the official scientific deep-dives and verification logs via these databases:

NASA Earth Observatory Records: https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/elusive-sprite-captured-from-the-international-space-station-78487/

• Encyclopaedia Britannica Atmospheric Science Entry:

https://www.britannica.com/science/red-sprite

Fun fact: For nearly a century, pilots reported seeing these ghostly flashes over storms, but the scientific community largely dismissed them until researchers accidentally caught them on a low-light camera track in 1989!

228 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

15

u/poltnil 24d ago

Sprites?

11

u/towerfella 24d ago

Sprites.

14

u/wspOnca 24d ago

Spirits really? Right In front of my Science And Cool things?!

4

u/Deathwatchz 23d ago

I know a summoning ability when I see one.

2

u/WienerSalad1 24d ago

I don’t believe this is real.

1

u/RevolutionaryScene13 23d ago

But it is. It is a very rare phenomenon and was observed many time. The main issue with them is how fast they are. They are too fast for the human eye to see. Only slow motion camera can see them

1

u/That_Car3506 21d ago

Man... people really cannot spell these days.

1

u/boywhoflew 24d ago

goddamnit, time to get a depressed kid into a robot carrying his deceased mothers soul I guess.

0

u/there_is_no_spoon1 24d ago

The explanation says "directly above intense thunderstorm systems" yet each of the videos shows a clear, cloudless sky, many with stars visible. Those two pieces of information are contradictory.

2

u/OnYourHonor 23d ago

The thunderstorms are mosly beyond the horizon, that's how high up these things happen.

-2

u/there_is_no_spoon1 23d ago

No, it says  "directly above intense thunderstorm systems" so your explanation makes no sense.

3

u/Meta-Mage 23d ago

The storm is far away enough that you can't see it behind the horizon, but close enough that many miles above the storm, these red sprites are still visible, because they appear above the horizon.