Sprite halo and small sprites
This red disk-shaped phenomenon, is another member of the TLEs (Transient Luminous Events, happening in the middle and upper atmosphere, above thunderstorms) family and is called sprite halo. Under it, there is a group of, relatively small, sprites. Sprite halo is short-lived (some ms) and its color comes from the same physical process as in red sprites (de-excitation of 1st positive group of mol. nitrogen). Halos appear close to sprite tops (alt. ~80-85 km), over active thunderstorms, like sprites. Sprite halos are usually triggered by -CGs, in contrast to sprites which are related to +CGs (99%). There is also a faint stripe of high clouds in front of the halo. The yellow light is a distant ship.
The event happened over the thunderstorms south of Crete (on the east side of the Medicane on 28/10) as seen from S. Attica during the night of Oct. 28, 2021. Faint parent lightning flash at the bottom, behind a cloud layer, can be seen as well. I've used a Sigma 85 mm lens at f/1.4, for 1/4'' with 51.2k iso. More about the Greek Team chasing red sprites and TLEs in general: antisimvatikos.blogspot.com/2019/05/tles-greek-archive-of...
What is a red sprite? Info here: antisimvatikos.blogspot.com/2017/04/red-sprite.html
Photography and Licensing: doudoulakis.blogspot.com/
My books concerning natural phenomena / Τα βιβλία μου σχετικά με τα φυσικά φαινόμενα: www.facebook.com/TaFisikaFainomena/
Sprite halo and small sprites
This red disk-shaped phenomenon, is another member of the TLEs (Transient Luminous Events, happening in the middle and upper atmosphere, above thunderstorms) family and is called sprite halo. Under it, there is a group of, relatively small, sprites. Sprite halo is short-lived (some ms) and its color comes from the same physical process as in red sprites (de-excitation of 1st positive group of mol. nitrogen). Halos appear close to sprite tops (alt. ~80-85 km), over active thunderstorms, like sprites. Sprite halos are usually triggered by -CGs, in contrast to sprites which are related to +CGs (99%). There is also a faint stripe of high clouds in front of the halo. The yellow light is a distant ship.
The event happened over the thunderstorms south of Crete (on the east side of the Medicane on 28/10) as seen from S. Attica during the night of Oct. 28, 2021. Faint parent lightning flash at the bottom, behind a cloud layer, can be seen as well. I've used a Sigma 85 mm lens at f/1.4, for 1/4'' with 51.2k iso. More about the Greek Team chasing red sprites and TLEs in general: antisimvatikos.blogspot.com/2019/05/tles-greek-archive-of...
What is a red sprite? Info here: antisimvatikos.blogspot.com/2017/04/red-sprite.html
Photography and Licensing: doudoulakis.blogspot.com/
My books concerning natural phenomena / Τα βιβλία μου σχετικά με τα φυσικά φαινόμενα: www.facebook.com/TaFisikaFainomena/