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Two amateur meteorologists in Cyprus, Angelos Kourieas and George Paraskevaidis, have once again captured the rare atmospheric phenomenon known as "Red Sprites."
On October 22, they recorded 10 sightings of these elusive occurrences over the sea between Cyprus and Turkey during the early morning hours, despite moderate observation conditions. The images were shared on the Kairofiloi Kyprou (Cyprus Weather Enthusiasts) website.
Red Sprites are rare and striking electrical discharges that occur in the upper atmosphere, at altitudes between 50 and 90 kilometers, usually above thunderstorms. They appear as red flashes and often resemble lightning, though they differ from traditional lightning that strikes closer to the Earth’s surface. They can manifest visually as vertical columns or take on the shape of "jellyfish" in the sky.
This phenomenon occurs when strong lightning strikes disrupt the atmospheric electric field, triggering reactions with air molecules at high altitudes. Red Sprites last only for a few milliseconds, making them difficult to observe with the naked eye.
While Red Sprites were first reported several decades ago, they were only captured on camera in the 1980s. The phenomenon is related to other high-altitude atmospheric discharges, such as Blue Jets and Elves (Emissions of Light and Very Low-Frequency Perturbations due to Electromagnetic Pulse Sources).
[Information sourced from Sigmalive]
