Video: Sprites, gravity waves and airglow

Video: Sprites, gravity waves and airglow
Sprite with Airglow and Gravity Waves over South Dakota. Credit and copyright: Randy Halverson.

Look! Fast! Sprite lightning occurs only at high altitudes above thunderstorms, only last for a thousandth of a second and emit light in the red portion of the visible spectrum, so they are really difficult to see. But one of our favorite astrophotographers and timelapse artists, Randy Halverson captured sprites during a recent thunderstorm in South Dakota. But wait, there's more!

In his timelapse video, above, you'll also see some faint aurora as well as green airglow being rippled by gravity waves.

Video: Sprites, gravity waves and airglow
More sprites with airglow and gravity waves over South Dakota on August 20, 2014. Credit: Randy Halverson.

Source: Universe Today

Citation: Video: Sprites, gravity waves and airglow (2014, September 5) retrieved 7 May 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2014-09-video-sprites-gravity-airglow.html
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