Carrot Sprites

[futzman]

I posted this on Cloudy Nights forum but thought some here who don't visit that forum would like to see these images as well.  This is the first time I've captured "sprites" using my meteor cam.  Sprites are very short-lived atmospheric phenomena that were first discovered just a few years ago (around 1990).  Here are the still images and following is the video of each sprite.  The first one even captures the so-called "elf" cloud following the main event:

 

 

According to what I've read sprites are several kilometers wide and high and occur about thunderstorm clouds high into the stratosphere.  There were thunderstorms around 50-60 kilometers n-ne of here during the early morning hours causing these TLEs (Transient Luminous Events).  They are generally not visible to the naked eye because they occur in the red spectrum, are generally pretty dim and are on a few milliseconds long.

WARNING:  The video is large but worth the wait!  The camera is facing generally northeast and the bright star in the center is Capella:

 Broken Arrow Sprites

I really need to write some code that will trigger a radar image capture along with the TLE.

Enjoy!

[Ron]

Richard,

 

That's very remarkable, I have never seen anything like that before and have never heard of them.

You should send that in to Spaceweather.

Thanks for sharing.

BTW glad you are safe after some of that bad weather from the tropical storm went pretty close by your area.

Ron

[futzman]

Thanks Ron!  I did sent it to Spaceweather.com.

I had not heard of this phenomenon either until a few months ago when I bought the UFODetect software.  I guess we don't hear of them much because they are largely invisible to our naked eyes.  It's surprising that something so huge has gone mostly unnoticed until the last couple of decades.

[ben therrell]

Richard,

      Those are some fine captures!  I have seen hi-altitude photos of them taken from
aircraft but I didn't realize they could be taken from ground level.

      The physics behind those things still has everybody perplexed.  In fact the physics behind
ordinary cloud to ground lightning still as everyone perplexed.

Ben

[futzman]

I made SpaceWeather.com!  Check it out:

http://www.spaceweather.com

[ben therrell]

Congrats Futz!

     Do keep up the good work!

Ben

[Ron]

That's Great Richard,

Being able to capture one of those rare events and show the world is terrific

Congratulation and keep up the good work

Ron

[lindendave]

Richard,

Congrats on the recognitionat the SpaceWeather site!

I have read about and seen photos of sprites but I have never seen any for real.

[twilbur]

Very cool!
And congrats on the publication!

[futzman]

Well the plot thickens.  Several researchers have reviewed my video and declared they are not sprites but the very rare "gigantic jet" TLE variety.  Here's an email I just received from the past president of the American Meteorological Society:

Richard:


Oscar van der Velde just alerted me to your giant jet images on SpaceWeather.com.


You have just captured the first such events over the continental US!


Congratulations.


I hope you will be willing to join with us in a scientific evaluation of this event and the storm that produced it.
We would want to work with you in publishing this event in the literature. We can do the heavy lifting, but you are welcome to contribute as much as you desire.
We have a number of tools at our disposal that would help place your video results in scientific context.


We have been using UFOCapture all summer trying to nail one of these, but to no avail. (We did get 1000 sprites though!)
We have a camera at OU in Norman but, alas, it was not operating that evening.


Can I presume your time stamps are UTC?
That means you were looking at the growing system to your northeast in southwest Missouri, correct?


BTW:


Your Hundred Year Hunt for the Red Sprite DVD is shipping today via Priority Mail.


Please take a look at the sections near the end where we discuss giant jets imaged north of Puerto Rico and near Taiwan...you will clearly see the similarity with your amazing images.




Regards,


Walt Lyons


Walter A. Lyons, Ph.D., CCM
Past President, American Meteorological Society
FMA Research, Inc.
46050 Weld County Road 13
Fort Collins, CO 80524
970-568-7664
970-482-8627 (fax)
walyons@frii.com
www.FMA-Research.com
www.Forensic-Weather.com
www.Sky-Fire.TV

So I guess dumb luck and cameras rolling sometimes yields the goods 

[Ron]

WOW & DOUBLE WOW

For everyone who has been following this thread and subject please see the update on Spaceweather.

Congratulations again Richard.

You got to be beaming and well deserved!  I would be doing back over flips

Ron

[futzman]

WOW & DOUBLE WOW

For everyone who has been following this thread and subject please see the update on Spaceweather.

Congratulations again Richard.

You got to be beaming and well deserved!  I would be doing back over flips

Ron

Thanks Ron.  Yeah, I'm pretty excited and just glad something I did with this hobby might actually contribute to the body of knowledge although it was just dumb luck   

[Frank Ryan Jr]

Richard,
Let me please offer you my congratulations on such an amazing capture!
If indeed these are the first 'Gigantic Jets' captured over the US then your images
are of the highest scientific importance.


Kind regards,

[futzman]

Richard,
Let me please offer you my congratulations on such an amazing capture!
If indeed these are the first 'Gigantic Jets' captured over the US then your images
are of the highest scientific importance.


Kind regards,

Thanks Frank!  I'm very excited about this.  I'm hoping it really helps the real scientists advance the knowledge about these rare events.

[ben therrell]

Futz,

     Augmented Congratulations!

     Yeah, part of it was luck BUT "Fortune favors the well initiated."

     (Consider the discovery of penicillin.)

Ben