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Credit: Nichole Ayers, NASA
The US Astronaut Nichole “Steam” Ayers conquered a spectacular view of a phenomenon that is known as “Sprite” that lived above an intensive thunderstorm – and she did 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the Earth at the International Space Station (ISS).
“Sprites are tles or transient bright events that happen over the clouds and are triggered by intensive electrical activities in the following thunderstorms,” wrote Ayers in an X -Post that shows the picture. “We have a great view of the clouds, so that scientists can use this kind of images to better understand the formation, properties and the relationship between tles to thunderstorms.”
Lively, multicolored sprites are among the least understood and visually striking electrical phenomena, which is known that they manifest themselves in intensive thunderstorm events in the upper atmosphere of the earth. They typically appear about 80 km above the surface of the planet after strong lightning strikes and, according to NASA, take on a number of forms from other side that consist of complex, tangled characteristics and red light flags.
Nevertheless, the gigantic Sprite-Ayar is a particularly impressive specimen that rises high above lightly illuminated clouds and steps into the upper atmosphere of the earth over Mexico and the USA, the Sprite seems to shine brightly next to artificial light that underline from the cities below.
In recent years, NASA has worked on the “Spritacular” Cention -Science project, in which the members are asked to contribute to the scientific community that can be used to decipher the phenomenon.
A gigantic sprite jumped into the upper atmosphere over an intensive thunderstorm of NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers | Credit: Nichole Ayers, NASA
These efforts are now strengthened by the orbital material of the spectacular events, including several astronauts on board the ISS, who have accepted photography as a creative outlet during their time.
Many questions surely be about the nature of sprites, how and why they form and how they interact with the surrounding atmosphere – but maybe they will soon have some answers.
Note from the publisher: If you want to record a picture of Sprite or TLE and share it with the readers of space.com, please send your photos, comments and your names and your place to Spacephotos@space.com.
