Nature & Environment
Dazzling Red Lightning Sprites Spotted Over Hurricane Matthew (Video)
Elaine Hannah
First Posted: Oct 05, 2016 05:01 AM EDT
A mysterious yet flamboyant red lightning sprites were seen over hurricane Matthew. It was captured by Frankie Lucena, a photographer, in Puerto Rico while the storm was heading toward Aruba and Colombia.
Sprites are colored reddish-orange or greenish-blue. They are electrical charges that could appear over a thunderstorm cloud or cumulonimbus. They are caused by the discharges of positive lightning between the thundercloud and the ground. They take place in clusters lazing for about 50 miles (80 km) to 90 miles (145 km) over the Earth's surface.
Smithsonian reports that sprites are not lightning at all and they are like aurorae. They will happen when the charged particles interact with gasses in the atmosphere. Tan electrical charge creates when the ice particles in the thunderclouds hit one another then an opposite charge generates on the ground that makes them connect and causing a spark of light known as lightning. So, when the lightning strike has a positive charge, it can then produce a sprite.
Mr. Lucena mentioned the location of the red sprites as about 400 miles southwest of his location in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. He further said that they were from a storm cell near Aruba and some were from a storm cell near the northern tip of Colombia. He took the images in the late hours of September 30 and early morning of October 1. Then, he posted them on Twitter, according to Miami Herald.
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TagsHurricane Matthew, red lightning sprites, sprites, Storm, Aruba, colombia, Hurricane, Puerto Rico ©2024 ScienceWorldReport.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The window to the world of science news.
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First Posted: Oct 05, 2016 05:01 AM EDT
A mysterious yet flamboyant red lightning sprites were seen over hurricane Matthew. It was captured by Frankie Lucena, a photographer, in Puerto Rico while the storm was heading toward Aruba and Colombia.
Sprites are colored reddish-orange or greenish-blue. They are electrical charges that could appear over a thunderstorm cloud or cumulonimbus. They are caused by the discharges of positive lightning between the thundercloud and the ground. They take place in clusters lazing for about 50 miles (80 km) to 90 miles (145 km) over the Earth's surface.
Smithsonian reports that sprites are not lightning at all and they are like aurorae. They will happen when the charged particles interact with gasses in the atmosphere. Tan electrical charge creates when the ice particles in the thunderclouds hit one another then an opposite charge generates on the ground that makes them connect and causing a spark of light known as lightning. So, when the lightning strike has a positive charge, it can then produce a sprite.
Mr. Lucena mentioned the location of the red sprites as about 400 miles southwest of his location in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. He further said that they were from a storm cell near Aruba and some were from a storm cell near the northern tip of Colombia. He took the images in the late hours of September 30 and early morning of October 1. Then, he posted them on Twitter, according to Miami Herald.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone