Photographer Captures Ultra-Rare Red Ring of Light Over Italy [View all]

(also posted in photography)


He caught an ELVE, a rare red ring of light caused by thunderstorms.

https://petapixel.com/2023/04/03/photographer-captures-ultra-rare-red-ring-of-light-over-italy/
More at the link.

Valter Binotto captured an ELVE which appeared for only a few milliseconds over Italy on Monday, March 27. It was 223 miles (359 kilometers) wide and located 62 miles (100 kilometers) high in the ionosphere.

ELVE stands for Emissions of Light and Very Low-Frequency Perturbations due to Electromagnetic Pulse Sources. It’s a rare form of Sprite, itself a large-scale electrical discharge that occurs high above a thunderstorm cloud that scientists are still studying.

“The ELVE was generated by intense lightning in a storm near Ancona about 177 miles (285 kilometers) south of me,” Binotto explains to Space Weather.

“One bolt was so strong, it generated an intense electromagnetic pulse (EMP). The red ring marks the spot where the EMP hit Earth’s ionosphere. Normal lightning bolts carry 10 to 30 kilo-ampères of current; this bolt was about 10 times stronger than normal.”