Mysterious red lightning on Earth was photographed from Outer Space

A flash of light in the form of lightning is a normal phenomenon. However, how to a red light flash at the top of the storm? Rarely see it not? On August 10, 2015, the astronauts who are on the International Space Station (ISS) saw a mysterious red flash in the sky of Missouri, United States, and El Salvador. Both red lightning caught in just a span of three minutes.

The lightning diameter of approximately 100 kilometers. Usually, it is difficult to see those lightning with the naked eye. So, with the visibility of the two red light flash directly in a short time is a fortune.

Lightning sprite, or red sprite, above a thunderstorm in northwest Mexico. The sprite was 2,200 kilometers (1,400 miles) away, high over Missouri or Illinois. The lights of Dallas, Texas appear in the foreground. The sprite shoots up to the greenish airglow layer, near a rising moon. Image acquired from International Space Station, August 10, 2015. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1MW6DOb)

Although it may sound trivial, those lightning is often called a "sprite" was mysterious and continues to be studied by scientists. Recent publications on the trigger of sprite released in Nature Communications on June 29, 2015.

Previously scientists had alleged that feneomena was triggered by gravitational waves in the atmosphere. In his study, Ningyu Liu from the Florida Institute of Technology succeeded in proving that the allegations were true.

Red sprite above a thunderstorm near the coast of El Salvador. Image acquired from International Space Station, August 10, 2015.. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1MW6DOb)

According to Liu, a small disturbance in the atmosphere as a result of gravitational waves can grow in the electric field is in the storm and eventually form a sprite.

"Interference with a small size with a large amplitude are the best conditions for the emergence of a sprite," Liu said.

"If the interference is too large, sprite formation impossible. If the magnitude of a minor annoyance, it took a long time for the sprites to form," he said.

So why the color of sprite was red? According to Liu, the sprite occurs when electrons in the ionized storm by nitrogen. The process produces a red color. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | EARTHSKY]

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