What a show over Missouri Valley, Iowa as the Perseid Meteor Shower peaked in the night of August 11/12.
Look at these red sprites and meteors dancing together. Magic!
As explained by Mike Hollingshead: The photo is two images stacked. The meteor was only 1 minute after the sprite with it. Pretty awesome to see. Got at least 9 sprites on photos, probably out numbering Perseids captured. I actually got pulled out when I saw the line of storms. Sprites and meteors together was just too tempting. Who needs sleep.
ESA explains that researchers are particularly interested in newly-discovered lights that occur in the upper atmosphere during thunderstorms called red sprites, blue jets and elves. Sprites last 20 milliseconds at most, and to capture them on camera is a real challenge. They received their name because of their elusive nature. Blue jets are found up to 50 km altitude with Red Sprites occurring between 60-80 km altitude.
