A Red Sprite Gives Astronauts an Incredible Light Show
A powerful discharge lit up the sky high above a thunderstorm over Mexico.
Nichole Ayers / NASA
Earlier this week, the NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers captured an amazing image of a sprite, a rarely photographed weather phenomenon, as the International Space Station passed above a storm over Mexico. Ayers wrote: "Sprites are TLEs, or Transient Luminous Events, that happen above the clouds and are triggered by intense electrical activity in the thunderstorms below."
About the Author
Alan Taylor is a senior editor at The Atlantic.
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