安地斯山脉上空的红色精灵

2021年03月30日

Red Sprite Lightning over the Andes
Image Credit & Copyright: Yuri Beletsky (Carnegie Las Campanas Observatory, TWAN)

Explanation: What are those red filaments in the sky? They are a rarely seen form of lightning confirmed only about 30 years ago: red sprites. Recent research has shown that following a powerful positive cloud-to-ground lightning strike, red sprites may start as 100-meter balls of ionized air that shoot down from about 80-km high at 10 percent the speed of light. They are quickly followed by a group of upward streaking ionized balls. The featured image was taken earlier this year from Las Campanas observatory in Chile over the Andes Mountains in Argentina. Red sprites take only a fraction of a second to occur and are best seen when powerful thunderstorms are visible from the side.

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Tomorrow’s picture: black hole polarized

安地斯山脉上空的红色精灵
影像提供与版权: Yuri Beletsky (Carnegie Las Campanas Observatory, TWAN)

说明: 天空中这些泛红的丝状物是什么？它是一种罕见30年前才获确认，称为红色精灵的高空放电发光现象。近来的研究证实，在强烈的正云对地闪电之后，偶而会诱发红色精灵；它刚形成时，是一团约在80公里高空、大小在100公尺左右的电离空气，然后以10之1光速向下伸展，紧接着出现成群向上发展的电离球。这张主题影像呈现一例今年稍早摄于智利的坎帕纳斯天文台，看似悬在阿根廷安地斯山脉上空的一群红色精灵。红色精灵发光的时间只有短短的几分之一秒，最佳的观测方式是从侧边观看活跃的雷暴系统。

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明日的图片: black hole polarized