A fleeting burst of red light high above a Kimberley storm in Western Australia's far north has been caught on camera by photographer Danny Welgama, from 150-200 kilometres away. These red sprites, blue jets and gigantic jets are shooting upwards, 40-90 kilometres above large thunderstorm clouds. A Bureau of Meteorology spokesperson said while lightning strikes and red sprites were both large-scale electrical discharges, they were quite different. Red sprites, a form of luminous plasma, occur in higher levels of the atmosphere, the stratosphere and/or mesosphere, compared to typical lightning, which is in the lowest layer, the troposphere. Source: ABC Kimberley
Red Sprites above The Kimberley, Western Australia.
Photographer Danny Welgama says red sprites happen in the blink of an eye.
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