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Mysterious Sprite Photographed By ISS Astronaut

Posted by samzenpus on from the pretty-pictures dept.

astroengine writes "A very rare and beautiful view of a red sprite has been photographed by Expedition 31 astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) hovering just above a bright flash of lightning in a thunderstorm over Myanmar. First documented in a photo in 1989, red sprites are very brief flashes of optical activity that are associated with powerful lightning discharges in storms — although the exact mechanisms that create them aren't yet known. But the orbiting outpost seems like the perfect vantage point to learn more about them!"

2 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. Not big news. by Rei · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's just a palette swap from a blue sprite. Try attacking it with ice or water attacks.

    --
    "/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit is a gimp plugin and must be run by the gimp in order to be used."
  2. When man bites dog, it's news by dtmos · · Score: 5, Funny

    A very rare and beautiful view of a red sprite has been photographed by Expedition 31 astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) hovering just above a bright flash of lightning in a thunderstorm over Myanmar.

    You see, this is the kind of poor journalism that gets me upset: The International Space Station somehow manages to come to a complete stop in its orbit and hover -- or somehow move out to the Clarke Belt, and stay geosynchronous -- and what does the reporter think is newsworthy? The pretty photograph it took while it was there.