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| Sprites are electrical discharges between clouds of thunderstorms and the lower ionosphere. These high-altitude phenomena typically last a few tens of milliseconds (the blink of an eye lasts ~250 milliseconds) and exhibit a characteristic structure of delicate tendrils merging into a vertical column. The sprite is topped by a diffuse crown spreading into the lower ionosphere (approx. 90 km). | ||||||||||
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| An amplified CCD video camera recorded the Sprites below from a field site near Fort Collins, Colorado in 1995. A few lights mark the horizon, above which a distant overcast is silhouetted by glow from intense lightning associated with the sprites. | ||||||||||
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A short description of sprite phenomenon by S.B. Mende, D. D. Sentman and E. M. Wescott with the title "Lightning between earth and space" can be found in the August 1997 issue of Scientific American at pages 36-39. View Sprite Images: |
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