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Astronaut photographs strange light phenomenon that looks like a fleet of alien spacecraft [1]

['Allan Rose Hill']

Date: 2024-07-16  

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick captured this strange photo while aboard the International Space Station. While they look like a fleet of alien spacecraft above Earth, they're actually "red sprites."

These rare flashes of light are a kind of Transient Luminous Event (TLE) that appear high above the clouds in the mesosphere, the third highest layer of Earth's atmosphere. The energy bursts "appear above storms as a result of lightning activity occurring in and below storms," NASA explains.

"While space station crew hunt for TLEs from space, you can help right here on Earth: send your photographs of sprites and other TLEs to NASA's citizen science project, Spritacular, to contribute to a crowdsourced database that professional scientists can use for research."

Previously:

• NASA finds more evidence of Jovian sprites

• Rare red sprites dancing in the skies, above thunderstorms

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2024/07/16/astronaut-photographs-strange-light-phenomenon-that-looks-like-a-fleet-of-alien-spacecraft.html

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