Super rare elf lightning appeared in Tibet. This is what the magical world is like!

Audit expert: Zhan Mingjin

PhD, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences

Some time ago, a Chinese photographer captured the most spectacular red sprite lightning in the country's history over the Himalayas in Tibet. In the vast galaxy, the flashing red light appeared in the sky like a sprite, flickering and dazzling like fireworks, and the picture was very stunning.

Source: CCTV News, Photo by AngelAn Anjiu

Source: CCTV News, Photo by AngelAn Anjiu

Red sprites are a type of sprite lightning. This phenomenon has attracted people's attention since the 1990s. Because the location of the lightning is uncertain and the duration of its appearance is very short, it is a very rare atmospheric luminescence phenomenon.

What is sprite lightning?

First, let's introduce the formation principle of lightning. The occurrence of lightning is generally accompanied by strong convection of the air. Under the convection of the air, the small water droplets in the cloud will move back and forth from the upper and lower directions and rub against each other. In the process of mutual friction, the small water droplets will lose electrons to form positive charges, and gain charges to form negative charges, which will make the cloud layer charged.

Positive charges are usually concentrated in the upper part of the cloud, while negative charges are in the lower part. Since the air has a certain insulation strength, there will be a certain potential difference between the upper and lower layers of the cloud. When the upper and lower charges accumulate more and more, the potential difference reaches the critical breakdown voltage, and the insulation capacity of the air cannot suppress the mutual attraction between the positive and negative charges. The positive and negative charges collide violently and neutralize quickly. In this process, the air between the clouds breaks down, generating lightning accompanied by dazzling light.

The "red sprite" was captured by the International Space Station as it flew over Laos. It is located above the bright spot on the right side of the picture.

Source: Wikipedia

Not only that, lightning can also form between clouds and the ground. The negative charge at the bottom of the cloud will attract the positive charge of equal strength on the ground. Similarly, when the potential difference between them exceeds the breakdown voltage, the air will also be broken down, forming lightning between the clouds and the ground.

The difference between sprite lightning and ordinary lightning is that sprite lightning is an upward jet phenomenon in the atmosphere 30 to 80 kilometers above the ground, appearing from above the clouds and extending into outer space. It usually lasts less than 1 second and has a variety of color changes. Therefore, it is also called transient luminous events (TLEs).

First color photo of sprite lightning taken

Source: Wikipedia

Most sprite lightning is triggered by strong lightning, and its luminous area is columnar, beam-shaped, ring-shaped, jellyfish-shaped, etc., and its color is generally red. In addition, the duration of ordinary lightning is between hundreds and tens of milliseconds, while the duration of sprite lightning is no more than 1 millisecond. This also makes sprite lightning difficult to capture, and ultra-high-speed cameras must be used to clearly "see" it.

Source: Internet, pictures edited

The reason why it is called "red" sprites is that nitrogen molecules in the atmosphere emit light in the 600-700 nanometer band of visible light. The light emitted in this band is red and orange. Although it also emits light in the 300-400 nanometer visible light band, the emission intensity is lower. Coupled with its sprite-like flashing characteristics and the limitations of the human eye's ability to recognize colors, we can mostly see red, so this type of lightning is named "red sprite."

How powerful is lightning?

Lightning can split rocks and fell trees. How much energy does a lightning bolt have? We can do a simple calculation. The average lightning current is 100 kiloamperes (kA), and the lightning voltage is as high as 1 million to 100 million volts (V). Although the current and voltage are huge, the duration of lightning is very short, only a few hundred or tens of microseconds or even shorter. So assuming that the lightning discharge voltage is 5 million volts, the current is 100 kiloamperes, and the discharge time is 0.005s, according to the formula W=UIt, the energy of a lightning bolt is 250 million joules, which is about 70 degrees of electricity. It can keep a 1300-watt (W) air conditioner running 24 hours a day for 2-3 days, so the energy of a lightning bolt may be much smaller than you think.

Although the energy is not as large as imagined, the power and current of lightning are extremely huge, and its destructive power cannot be underestimated.

In 2016, a shocking scene occurred in a small mountain village in Norway: 323 carcasses of wild reindeer were scattered all over the mountain. After the herd was struck by lightning, one-fifth of the reindeer did not die immediately, but they were seriously injured and died soon because no one rescued them.

Source: News Photo

In India, four people were taking shelter under a tree in a park when they were struck by lightning and fell to the ground.

After being struck by lightning, the lightest symptoms are dizziness, shock, burns, and the worst are cardiac arrest and death. The lucky ones who survive being struck by lightning will suffer from short-term or long-term illnesses, including epilepsy, dizziness, muscle pain, deafness, headache, memory loss, distraction, insomnia, etc. Some people even have traces of lightning on their bodies, which can be said to be a limited edition skin of "surviving a disaster".

Source: Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

How to protect against lightning?

Lightning is dangerous, you can’t afford to offend it but you can avoid it!

If you are driving and encounter lightning and thunder, you should park your car in an open area, away from trees, buildings, etc., and turn off the engine, doors, windows and all electronic equipment in the car to form a completely enclosed space. A completely enclosed car is equivalent to a "Faraday cage". A Faraday cage is a cage formed by metal or good conductors. It can shield external electromagnetic interference and protect objects inside from lightning damage. So don't touch the window handles, gear lever, steering wheel, etc. Stay in the "golden bell" of the Faraday cage and wait quietly for the thunder and lightning weather to end.

Lightning source 丨 Wikipedia

If you are indoors, you should pay attention to cutting off the power supply of high-power electrical appliances, because the lightning rod on the building can only solve the lightning protection problem of the building itself, and lightning can invade the room through the power line, so the lightning rod cannot protect the electrical equipment connected to the power supply from lightning. To prevent lightning from invading the power line and causing fire or electric shock casualties, you should turn off all kinds of household appliances as much as possible and unplug the power plugs.

If you are hiking outdoors, do not run in the rain, find a place to avoid lightning immediately, and do not walk with an umbrella with a metal handle. Once you feel your hair standing up or your skin trembling, it may be a lightning strike. You should fall to the ground immediately, take off the metal accessories you are wearing, and try to put dry insulating items under your body.

Lightning has long been classified as one of the 10 most serious natural disasters. Although lightning has a fleeting charm like a fairy, when appreciating its beauty, we must always remember: only watch from a distance! Although there is no need to be blindly afraid, we must not take it lightly.