7 days ago
Red lightning captured on video leaping in Chinese night sky
A rare burst of red lightning was captured streaking across the night sky in Shannan City, southwest China's Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region, over the weekend.
The phenomenon, also known as a "red sprite", was much harder to spot than a regular flash of lightning as it took place high above the clouds.
Red lightning also typically extended upwards towards the atmosphere rather than down towards the ground.
The images in Shannan were taken by 27-year-old astro photographer Dong Shuchang.
He told China's CCTV he checked the weather forecast before heading out to capture the stunning videos.
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"Without hesitation, I decided to head for [the mountains in] Shannan. I found myself a viewing spot in a sunken area on the mountain ridge with an elevation of more than 5000 metres and pointed my camera directly south. Since I checked the weather beforehand, I was sure that my shooting would not be affected by too much cloud," Dong said.
"After setting the recording mode of my camera at a high speed of 120 frames per second, I was not only able to capture clear images of the 'red sprite' in peak explosion, but also recorded the details. This is the second time that I have captured the complete course of a 'ghost sprite' event, which is an even rarer type of red lightning."
Dong was crowned the overall winner as the 2021 Astronomy Photographer of the Year by the Royal Observatory in Greenwich for his photograph The Golden Ring, which showed an annular solar eclipse.
