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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Red Sprites in the Tatacoa Desert
NASA ^
| 15 Jul, 2026
| Image Credit & Copyright: Mario Vargas Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)
Posted on 07/15/2026 12:07:13 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: Is there an angry Sith using force lightning in the Tatacoa Desert? This is not science fiction, but a red sprite with multiple streamers! Ordinary lightning occurs when thundercloud particles collide, lose their electrons, and build up negative charge at the cloud bottom. The cloud’s negative charge repels negative charge deeper into the Earth, leaving Earth’s surface positively charged. The opposite charges attract, reaching towards each other and superheating the air into a white strike of plasma. Red sprites are millisecond events triggered by positive cloud-to-ground lightning. They extend up into the mesosphere where the air is too thin for thunder. Their red glow comes from heated molecular nitrogen. There are several potential causes for red sprites, including that the preceding positive lightning exposes the negatively charged cloud core to the positively charged upper atmosphere, allowing those charges to connect. NASA’s Juno has observed sprites on Jupiter, indicating that sprites occur on other planets!
TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa
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To: MtnClimber
2
posted on
07/15/2026 12:07:33 PM PDT
by
MtnClimber
(For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; ...
Pinging the APOD list
🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔
3
posted on
07/15/2026 12:08:31 PM PDT
by
MtnClimber
(For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
To: MtnClimber
4
posted on
07/15/2026 12:09:26 PM PDT
by
BenLurkin
(The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
To: MtnClimber
5
posted on
07/15/2026 12:13:21 PM PDT
by
NavyShoe
To: MtnClimber
In days of old they’d see something like that and think the God’s are angry, then they’d sacrifice people.
6
posted on
07/15/2026 12:26:45 PM PDT
by
Bullish
(My tagline ran off with another man, but it's okay... I wasn't married to it.)
To: Bullish
Give me that old time religion . . . .
7
posted on
07/15/2026 2:00:10 PM PDT
by
BipolarBob
(If you hate God's Holy Law, you hate God. Both are love based and perfect.)
To: MtnClimber
8
posted on
07/15/2026 2:58:23 PM PDT
by
No name given
( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
To: MtnClimber
WOW, another amazing shot, beautiful!
To: MtnClimber
Angry Sith? More like a red lightning burst caught mid‑panic, its nitrogen‑glow hair standing straight up after seeing what’s happening below...
To: MtnClimber
Electrons just doing what they do. It is quite beautiful.
11
posted on
07/15/2026 9:59:49 PM PDT
by
cpdiii
(cane cutter, deckhand, oilfield roughneck, drilling fluid tech, geologist, pilot, pharmacist, MAGA)
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