Latest news with #GaopengLu
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mysterious ‘red lightning' spotted over Himalayas is finally explained
A strange 'red lightning' phenomenon photographed from near a lake site in the southern Tibetan plateau in 2022 was driven by thunderstorms over the Himalayan region, scientists discover in a new study. Thunderstorms can generate different types of transient luminous events like gigantic jets and blue jets via the transfer of charges involved in lightning formation from inside clouds to the ground. On the night of 19 May 2022, two astrophotographers located near Pumoyongcuo Lake in Tibet captured the spectacular display of "red sprites' – an atmospheric phenomenon named after their jellyfish-like appearance. These were electrical discharges that produced vivid red flashes high above thunderstorms. In this particular event in 2022, researchers also spotted 16 rare secondary jets and the first-ever recorded case in Asia of green airglow at the base of the ionosphere – a layer of the atmosphere containing a high concentration of ions about 80 to 1,000km (50 to 620miles) above the earth's surface. 'Nearly half of these events involved dancing sprites, with an additional 16 uncommon secondary jets and at least four extremely rare green emissions called 'ghosts' observed following the associated sprites,' scientists wrote in a new study. The findings, published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, revealed the driving force behind this grand red sprites display. "This event was truly remarkable," says study co-author Gaopeng Lu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In the latest research, scientists assessed photographs of the event to probe the parent lightning discharges. Due to the lack of precise timestamps to analyse photos and videos of the event, researchers developed an innovative method to synchronise video time using satellite trajectories and star field analysis. Using this approach, they could determine the exact occurrence times of the sprites, and link them to their parent lightning discharges. Based on the analysis, scientists found that the sprites were triggered by a 'high-peak current' positive cloud-to-ground lightning strikes within a massive convective system spanning a cloud area of over 200,000sqkm. The parent lightning discharges which drove the red sprites arose from a convective complex stretching from the Ganges Plain to the southern foothills of the Tibetan Plateau, researchers noted. 'This suggests that thunderstorms in the Himalayan region have the potential to produce some of the most complex and intense upper-atmospheric electrical discharges on Earth,' Dr Lu said. The findings, according to researchers, hint that storms in the region may generate even more complex discharge structures like the red sprites.
The Independent
20-03-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Mysterious ‘red lightning' spotted over Himalayas is finally explained
A strange 'red lightning ' phenomenon photographed from near a lake site in the southern Tibetan plateau in 2022 was driven by thunderstorms over the Himalayan region, scientists discover in a new study. Thunderstorms can generate different types of transient luminous events like gigantic jets and blue jets via the transfer of charges involved in lightning formation from inside clouds to the ground. On the night of 19 May 2022, two astrophotographers located near Pumoyongcuo Lake in Tibet captured the spectacular display of " red sprites ' – an atmospheric phenomenon named after their jellyfish-like appearance. These were electrical discharges that produced vivid red flashes high above thunderstorms. In this particular event in 2022, researchers also spotted 16 rare secondary jets and the first-ever recorded case in Asia of green airglow at the base of the ionosphere – a layer of the atmosphere containing a high concentration of ions about 80 to 1,000km (50 to 620miles) above the earth's surface. 'Nearly half of these events involved dancing sprites, with an additional 16 uncommon secondary jets and at least four extremely rare green emissions called 'ghosts' observed following the associated sprites,' scientists wrote in a new study. The findings, published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, revealed the driving force behind this grand red sprites display. "This event was truly remarkable," says study co-author Gaopeng Lu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In the latest research, scientists assessed photographs of the event to probe the parent lightning discharges. Due to the lack of precise timestamps to analyse photos and videos of the event, researchers developed an innovative method to synchronise video time using satellite trajectories and star field analysis. Using this approach, they could determine the exact occurrence times of the sprites, and link them to their parent lightning discharges. Based on the analysis, scientists found that the sprites were triggered by a 'high-peak current' positive cloud-to-ground lightning strikes within a massive convective system spanning a cloud area of over 200,000sqkm. The parent lightning discharges which drove the red sprites arose from a convective complex stretching from the Ganges Plain to the southern foothills of the Tibetan Plateau, researchers noted. 'This suggests that thunderstorms in the Himalayan region have the potential to produce some of the most complex and intense upper-atmospheric electrical discharges on Earth,' Dr Lu said. The findings, according to researchers, hint that storms in the region may generate even more complex discharge structures like the red sprites.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astrophotographers help crack mystery of ‘sprite fireworks'
On May 19, 2022, two astrophotographers set up near the sacred lake of Pumoyongcuo on the southern Tibetan Plateau captured a vibrant display streaking across the Himalayan sky. Over a single night, Angel An and Shuchang Dong recorded over 100 red sprites, bursts of brilliantly colorful electrical discharges known for both their color and ethereal patterns. Rarely seen secondary jets also joined the atmospheric phenomena, as well as the first-known images in Asia of ghost sprites—greenish glowing that is sometimes seen near the base of an evening's ionosphere. One of the photos was so striking that it even went on to win the 'Skyscapes' category of the Royal Observatory Greenwich's 2023 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. While these dramatic 'sprite fireworks' displays are well-known, little is understood about how and why they form. However, researchers at China's University of Science and Technology are beginning to unravel red sprite behavior thanks in part to the astrophotographers' work. Their results, published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, illustrate the complex celestial interactions that can occur far above us. Before they began to study the Himalayan red sprites, Gaopeng Lu and his colleagues encountered a problem: While visually arresting, An and Dong's recordings of the 2022 outbreak weren't timestamped. Without these reference points, Lu's team could not match the sprites to their parent lightning discharges. They came up with a creative workaround: While they didn't know exactly when the sprites occurred, they could figure out where they formed in the night sky. By matching the coordinates of 95 of the sprites with multiple orbital satellite trajectories and star chart positions, researchers managed to pinpoint each electrical event's time to within a one second margin of error. From there, they could link around 70 percent of the red sprites to their parent lightning events, then examine those discharges. 'This event was truly remarkable,' said Gaopeng Lu in an accompanying statement. 'By analyzing the parent lightning discharges, we discovered that the sprites were triggered by high-peak current positive cloud-to-ground lightning strikes within a massive mesoscale convective system.' A mesoscale event is a large complex of thunderstorms that include weather systems like lake-effect snow, squall lines, and tropical cyclones, depending on their location. In the case of the May 2022 event, the sprites formed inside an area stretching over 77,220 square miles from the Ganges Plain of northeast India to the Tibetan Plateau's southern foothills. It also featured the highest number of sprites ever recorded in South Asia, most of which featured a positive polarity with peak currents topping +50 kiloamperes (kA). Lu and his team now believe thunderstorms in the Himalayas may produce some of Earth's 'most complex and intense upper-atmospheric electrical discharges' that are likely on par to those documented in the US Great Plains and off European coasts. The team's findings also have important implications for how experts can better characterize regional thunderstorms in the future, including how their physical and chemical attributes affect adjacent areas. Their novel timestamping approach isn't limited to red sprite revelations, either. Any citizen scientist with the right know-how can now also use the study's methodology for their own meteorological work.
