Are lightning jellyfish real?

Sometimes during a thunderstorm, you can glimpse tentacles of jellyfish-shaped lightning drooping down from space. This phenomenon is called a red sprite — it's a type of electrical discharge that happens up to 50 miles into the atmosphere.

What causes a jellyfish sprite?

"Jellyfish sprites are the briefest, brightest, and most intricate of the sprite family, and may be caused by exceptionally powerful positive lightning strikes," Hummel said in an email to The Weather Network. There are three types of sprite that have been observed.

How rare is a red sprite?

Red sprites occur at altitudes of about 50 miles into the atmosphere and account for only 5 percent of all lightning phenomena. In fact, red sprites were only first photographed in 1989, and recordings like this one captured in a video by photographer Scott McPartland are extremely rare.

Can you see sprites with your eyes?

The elusive sprites, caused by only the most powerful lightning strikes, can sometimes be seen with the naked eye at night, but only last a few milliseconds.

Why is the lightning green?

Green lightning does indicate that the cloud is extremely tall, and because thunderclouds are the tallest clouds, green is a warning sign that large hail or a tornado is on the way. Green lightning has only been photographed once when the Chaiten volcano in Chile erupted. Spewing an ash cloud into the atmosphere.

Bright Jellyfish Red Sprites, Sprite Outbreak! May 23 2020. Playing with Red Sprite photography

Are sprites real?

If you're looking for sprites or elves dancing in the forest after dark, you might be disappointed—but in a way, they do exist. What are known as “sprites” and “elves” are actually Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) that emerge from the upper atmosphere when thunderstorms are brewing and lightning strikes.

Is Pink lightning real?

In snowstorms, where it is somewhat rare, pink and green are often described as colors of lightning. Haze, dust, moisture, raindrops and any other particles in the atmosphere will affect the color by absorbing or diffracting a portion of the white light of lightning.

Is orange lightning real?

Red lightning within a cloud indicates the presence of rain. Yellow or orange lightning occurs when there is a large concentration of dust in the air. White lightning is a sign of low humidity or a little amount of moisture in the air.

Is there purple lightning?

Purple or lilac-tinted lightning bolt is often caused by high atmospheric humidity; which means the thunderstorm is accompanied by high-precipitation. Yellow lightning is uncommon; however, they tend to be cooler than the blue, lilac and white. They're caused to due to a high concentration of dust in the air.

How hot is red lightning?

It can reach temperatures approaching 30,000 K (55,000 °F). This is five times hotter than the surface of our sun!

What is dark lightning?

Dark lightning is a burst of gamma rays produced during thunderstorms by extremely fast moving electrons colliding with air molecules. Researchers refer to such a burst as a terrestrial gamma ray flash.

Can lightning exist space?

Lightning has also been observed on gas giant Saturn. In 1980-81, Voyager detected radio signals called sferics, which like whistlers are signs of lightning.

Are lightning sprites real?

Sprites or red sprites are large-scale electrical discharges that occur high above thunderstorm clouds, or cumulonimbus, giving rise to a quite varied range of visual shapes flickering in the night sky. They are usually triggered by the discharges of positive lightning between an underlying thundercloud and the ground.

What is red lightning called?

Sprites, also known as red lightning, are electrical discharges that appear as bursts of red light above clouds during thunderstorms.

What is space lightning called?

Early research reports for these events referred to them by a variety of names, including "upward lightning," "upward discharges," "cloud-to-stratosphere discharges," and "cloud-to-ionosphere discharges." Now they are simply referred to as sprites, a whimsical term that evokes a sense of their fleeting nature, while at ...

Is blue lightning real?

When an unexpected event happens people describe it as a “bolt from the blue”. The phrase is actually based on real weather phenomena where a lightning bolt will strike an area with no overhead clouds. While bolts from the blue don't originate from blue sky, they occur infrequently, are unexpected, and can be deadly.

What is the rarest color of lightning?

Green lightning is a rare phenomenon that can be seen during a thunderstorm. Someone who has seen green lightning is extremely lucky as green lightning strikes are rarely seen. It is so rare that the only photograph of a green lightning strike is one from when the Chaiten volcano in Chile erupted.

Is purple lightning rare?

The rare purple lightning strike occurs far higher in the atmosphere than normal lightning – and has only rarely been caught on film. The flash of 'ionospheric lightning' stands out against the deep blue of a night sky behind, while the raging storm lights up the clouds below.

Is there Black lightning?

Scientists have just begun to understand a strange phenomenon known simply as "dark lightning". Different from regular lightning, dark lightning is a release of high-energy gamma radiation—sources include supernovae and supermassive black holes—that is completely invisible to the human eye.

What is the rarest type of lightning?

ball lightning, also called globe lightning, a rare aerial phenomenon in the form of a luminous sphere that is generally several centimetres in diameter. It usually occurs near the ground during thunderstorms, in close association with cloud-to-ground lightning.

How hot is green lightning?

How Hot Is Green Lightning? Green lightning is slightly cooler than purple lightning but that doesn't mean you'd want to get struck by it. It still manages to pack in an incredible 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit!

What causes blue lightning?

Nitrogen, the dominant gas in the atmosphere, is excited by this strong flow of energy, its electrons moving to higher energy states. The distinctive blue-white color of lightning is caused by light emitted as the electrons drop back to their original energy states.

Can there be a thunderstorm with snow?

Thundersnow – a thunderstorm that produces snow instead of rain – is sometimes reported during winter storms across the nation and in other countries.

How is red lightning made?

Sprites or red sprites are large-scale electric discharges that occur high above thunderstorm clouds, or cumulonimbus, giving rise to a varied range of visual shapes flickering in the night sky. They are usually triggered by the discharges of positive lightning between an underlying thundercloud and the ground.