Red 'sprite' in space: Nasa astronaut shares elusive atmospheric phenomena; aids TLE research

Time of India

12 hours ago

Sprite captured by Nichole Ayers (Image credits: X @Astro_Ayers)
While orbiting high above North America,
NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers
captured a rare sight- glowing red lights shimmering in Earth's upper atmosphere. The phenomenon, known as a
Transient Luminous Event
(TLE) or "sprite," appeared as a brief burst of red light above thunderstorms over Mexico and the United States.
The rare phenomenon, known as a Transient Luminous Event (TLE), is called a sprite- a brief flash of red light that occurs high above powerful thunderstorms. These massive bursts of electrical energy can reach up to 100 kilometers above Earth's surface and consist of 'cold plasma,' more like the glow inside a fluorescent light tube than typical lightning.
Due to their high altitude and short duration,
sprites
are rarely visible from the ground, making Ayers' space-based capture especially significant.
Sharing the image on X, Ayers said, 'Just. Wow. As we went over Mexico and the U.S. this morning, I caught this sprite.'
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'Sprites are TLEs or Transient Luminous Events, that happen above the clouds and are triggered by intense electrical activity in the thunderstorms below,' she explained.
Sprites have long fascinated scientists and pilots. These brief, jellyfish-shaped flashes shoot upward into the atmosphere and vanish in milliseconds. For nearly a century, pilots reported seeing them, but many scientists dismissed them as myths or optical illusions. That changed in 1989 when the first clear image of a sprite was accidentally captured on camera.
According to Nasa, sprites occur when strong lightning discharges interact with Earth's ionosphere. As the discharge travels upward and hits nitrogen molecules, it produces a reddish glow. Sprites belong to a larger group of upper-atmosphere phenomena that includes blue jets and red elves.
Users were both amazed and curious after seeing the post. One wrote,'Sprite.... one of the rarest of
rare celestial phenomenon
.'
Another asked, 'How long do the sprites last? Is this a still shot taken from a video? What altitude did this one reach? The more we find out, it becomes obvious we know far less than we thought.'