Armagh Observatory Records Rare Space Phenomenon

The Armagh Observatory has recorded one of very few observations in the UK and Ireland of a rare phenomenon known as a 'sprite'.

The sighting was made around the time of a thunderstorm over Dublin on the 24/25 July.

Images from the Armagh Observatory website show a carrot-shaped flash of light, known as a 'sprite', rising high above thunderclouds.

"Unlike common lightning discharges, which often jump between clouds or between the clouds and the ground, sprites are associated with similarly powerful electrical fields that occur high above the clouds of the Earth’s atmosphere," a statement from the Observatory said.

"They are often associated with particularly intense thunderstorms and exceptionally powerful positive cloud-to-ground lightning strokes that are sometimes seen to occur during such storms. Sprites are observed at typical heights ranging from around 50 to 100 kilometres, in the so-called 'middle' part of the Earth’s atmosphere known as the mesosphere. This is the region sandwiched between the stratosphere and the much more tenuous thermosphere, which ultimately merges into interplanetary space."

The size of sprites can range up to several tens of kilometres across. They are usually red in colour and last at most for up to a few hundredths of a second, making them very difficult to see.

The Armagh Observatory’s video recording is one of very few sprite detections on video footage from the UK and Ireland.

"Apart from being extraordinary and awesome to behold, the relatively recent discovery of sprites reminds us that the Earth’s upper atmosphere remains a mystery, with a lot still to be learned about the environment of our own planet," the Observatory said.

The images can be viewed on the Armagh Observatory website.

(IT/CD)