Luminous phenomena over the RS-Uruguay border are captured by an observatory in Porto Alegre
Called sprites, these events occur due to electrical discharges related to lightning storms, which produce pulses of electrical energy. The duration of this phenomenon is approximately 17 milliseconds.
Sprites seen on the border between Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay - Image Reproduction/Observatório Heller & Jung
O Heller & Jung Observatory, located in Taquara and 80 kilometers from Porto Alegre, documented luminous phenomena over storm clouds on the border between Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay in the early hours of this Friday (18). According to Professor Carlos Fernando Jung, responsible for the observatory, these light effects are known as sprites – brief flashes of low-intensity light that appear over thunderstorms.
Jung explained that these phenomena arise due to electrical discharges from lightning storms, which cause upward pulses of electrical energy. These impulses have the ability to stimulate gas in the upper atmosphere, which results in the emission of light. These light emissions feature as the distinctive bright flashes of the sprites and gGenerally, these emissions assume branched forms, resembling an inverted tree, which extend both vertically and horizontally from the point of origin.
What are sprites?
Sprites represent a more familiar category among transient light phenomena, which occur during storms. They arise as a result of quasi-electrostatic electric fields generated by strong winds that travel the path between the clouds and the ground. Such occurrences can be captured by highly sensitive cameras of the type CCD (charge coupled device), capable of registering one of these events at distances that reach up to a thousand miles. Sprites form above clouds of storm clouds, extending to altitudes ranging from 45 to 90 miles, and have an orange to red hue.
A average duration of this phenomenon is about 17 milliseconds. It occurs a few milliseconds after the formation of initial lightning, which usually develops at the base of the lightning. The phenomenon has a positive charge, unlike conventional lightning, which has a negative charge. In this process, a positive current descends from the cloud towards the negative charges accumulated on the ground. When this current meets these charges on the ground, the circuit completes and becomes presents itself in the manifestation of the positive ray.Interestingly, this phenomenon can also be observed in the highest cloud layers on Neptune.
