APOD: A Dark Earth with a Red Sprite (2015 Dec 20)

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APOD: A Dark Earth with a Red Sprite (2015 Dec 20)

Post by APOD Robot » Sun Dec 20, 2015 5:06 am

Image A Dark Earth with a Red Sprite

Explanation: There is something very unusual in this picture of the Earth -- can you find it? A fleeting phenomenon once thought to be only a legend has been newly caught if you know just where to look. The featured image was taken from the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) in late April and shows familiar ISS solar panels on the far left and part of a robotic arm to the far right. The rarely imaged phenomenon is known as a red sprite and it can be seen, albeit faintly, just over the bright area on the image right. This bright area and the red sprite are different types of lightning, with the white flash the more typical type. Although sprites have been reported anecdotally for as long as 300 years, they were first caught on film in 1989 -- by accident. Much remains unknown about sprites including how they occur, their effect on the atmospheric global electric circuit, and if they are somehow related to other upper atmospheric lightning phenomena such as blue jets or terrestrial gamma flashes.

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Re: APOD: A Dark Earth with a Red Sprite (2015 Dec 20)

Post by Chris Peterson » Sun Dec 20, 2015 6:28 am

As it's likely to come up, I'll point out that this image was shot over Myanmar.
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Re: APOD: A Dark Earth with a Red Sprite (2015 Dec 20)

Post by alter-ego » Sun Dec 20, 2015 6:56 am

Chris Peterson wrote:As it's likely to come up, I'll point out that this image was shot over Myanmar.
And I'll add that the view is nominally toward the SE with Hanoi hidden by the solar panel, and the sprite appears to be over Laos, close to the Cambodia and Vietnam borders .
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Re: APOD: A Dark Earth with a Red Sprite (2015 Dec 20)

Post by Hevelius » Sun Dec 20, 2015 12:20 pm

"The featured image was taken from the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) in late April and shows familiar ISS solar panels ...." seems to imply it is from this year (2015) but if I'm not mistaken, this photo is from mission 31 and was taken on April 30th, 2012 :? The image I am refering to can be found at:
eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=ISS031&roll=E&frame=10712
or by its NASA Photo ID, ISS031-E-10712.

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Re: APOD: A Dark Earth with a Red Sprite (2015 Dec 20)

Post by geckzilla » Sun Dec 20, 2015 3:10 pm

Hevelius wrote:"The featured image was taken from the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) in late April and shows familiar ISS solar panels ...." seems to imply it is from this year (2015) but if I'm not mistaken, this photo is from mission 31 and was taken on April 30th, 2012 :? The image I am refering to can be found at:
eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=ISS031&roll=E&frame=10712
or by its NASA Photo ID, ISS031-E-10712.
That's because it's a rerun of this APOD: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120829.html http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php?t=29420
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Re: APOD: A Dark Earth with a Red Sprite (2015 Dec 20)

Post by neufer » Sun Dec 20, 2015 3:43 pm


.


Chris Peterson wrote:
As it's likely to come up,

I'll point out that this image was shot over Myanmar.
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Re: APOD: A Dark Earth with a Red Sprite (2015 Dec 20)

Post by Ron-Astro Pharmacist » Mon Dec 21, 2015 7:03 pm

Yes I think I saw the red sprite. On the previous pass over Idaho I could have swore I saw I guy sending up a toast to those on ISS wishing them "Happy Holidays!!" :thumb_up:

Fizzacist Cherry Bomb

2 oz Smirnoff® Black Cherry Twist vodka
4 oz Sprite ® cherry soda
2 oz Red Bull® energy drink


Pour the Cherry Sprite into a highball glass filled with ice cubes. Add the Smirnoff watermelon vodka, and top with Red Bull. Stir lightly, and serve.
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Re: APOD: A Dark Earth with a Red Sprite (2015 Dec 20)

Post by Beyond » Mon Dec 21, 2015 8:15 pm

Say, Ron, did you have a couple of those 'cherry bombs' before you did the post?
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Re: APOD: A Dark Earth with a Red Sprite (2015 Dec 20)

Post by MarkBour » Mon Dec 21, 2015 8:47 pm

Cool, cool picture! Worth a replay, I guess. I find the arc at the top of the image interesting, showing a green layer of upper atmosphere. Also, I see stars above that ... I don't usually see stars in these images.

It would be nice to get a super high-speed camera apparatus on the ISS, catch a lightning event at a low angle, like the present image, only even more acute, and see the sequence in high temporal resolution from this vantage point. Actually, I suppose this could be accomplished from a plane just as well. But I'm thinking of an angle where you can see both above and below the cloud that the lightning occurred in.
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Re: APOD: A Dark Earth with a Red Sprite (2015 Dec 20)

Post by Ron-Astro Pharmacist » Mon Dec 21, 2015 11:15 pm

Beyond wrote:Say, Ron, did you have a couple of those 'cherry bombs' before you did the post?
I'm not sure I could really recommend them to anyone with a straight face :derp:
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Re: APOD: A Dark Earth with a Red Sprite (2015 Dec 20)

Post by Beyond » Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:47 am

Ron-Astro Pharmacist wrote:
Beyond wrote:Say, Ron, did you have a couple of those 'cherry bombs' before you did the post?
I'm not sure I could really recommend them to anyone with a straight face :derp:
IF you tip your head a little, your face won't be so straight.
The reason i asked, is because you have two Smirnoff vodka's listed. 1)-Black Cherry twist, in the ingredients and watermelon in the directions.
I figured you had had some before you did the post and you were just a tad (Smirn)OFF when you typed it. A double dose of vodka could do that to ya. :yes:
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Re: APOD: A Dark Earth with a Red Sprite (2015 Dec 20)

Post by Ron-Astro Pharmacist » Thu Dec 24, 2015 3:05 pm

Beyond wrote:
Ron-Astro Pharmacist wrote:
Beyond wrote:Say, Ron, did you have a couple of those 'cherry bombs' before you did the post?
I'm not sure I could really recommend them to anyone with a straight face :derp:
IF you tip your head a little, your face won't be so straight.
The reason i asked, is because you have two Smirnoff vodka's listed. 1)-Black Cherry twist, in the ingredients and watermelon in the directions.
I figured you had had some before you did the post and you were just a tad (Smirn)OFF when you typed it. A double dose of vodka could do that to ya. :yes:
You are right Beyond. That's what happens when one doesn't check his cuts and pastes. I guess you get two choices :D
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matthew godson

Re: APOD: A Dark Earth with a Red Sprite (2015 Dec 20)

Post by matthew godson » Thu Dec 24, 2015 7:25 pm

Did anyone notice the cloud right in the middle of the pic if you zoom in on it, it looks just like an evil skull!

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