Pegasus Research Consortium

Breaking News => Space News and Current Space Weather Conditions => Topic started by: zorgon on August 19, 2015, 10:16:02 PM

Title: PROOF That NASA is aware of Plasma Phenomena- No not Dust and Ice
Post by: zorgon on August 19, 2015, 10:16:02 PM
PROOF That NASA is aware of Plasma Phenomena- No not Dust and Ice

We all know too well the NASA videos of the UFO's associated with Thunderstorms (STS-80 for one)

We here at Pegasus have been saying that they are some form of PLASMA activity, weather space critter or some other natural event.

We all know that Jim Oberg keeps thumping the silly "ice and dust particle" excuse...

Well today we have THIS

Astronauts in space have captured a rare image of a giant red sprite

QuoteAn astronaut took a beautiful photo of Earth at night, below, while flying over Central America in the International Space Station.

The moon is in the upper left, and a massive thunderstorm off to the right.

But there's something weird lurking in this image, captured on August 10.

Can you spot it?

(http://static6.techinsider.io/image/55cfcd402acae78a008c093d-4928-3280/red-sprite-lightning-storm-space-nasa.jpg)

QuoteLook to the right, just above the thunderstorm.
Upon closer inspection, space writer Jason Major saw a big red sprite:

(http://static1.techinsider.io/image/55cfcf092acae710008c0a5b-4025-3018/red-sprite-lightning-storm-space-nasa-1.jpg)

QuoteBelow is a closer look at this oddity.
Note the tendrils (purple) rising from the thunderstorm (bright white/blue) up toward the flash of the sprite (red), sort of like an electrical puppeteer and marionette:

(http://static5.techinsider.io/image/55cfce172acae719008c08dc-1204-903/red-sprite-lightning-storm-space-nasa-2.jpg)

QuoteWhat you're seeing in the photos above is a sprite. Sprites are enormous red bursts of electromagnetic discharge, akin to lightning.
Steve Cummer, a Duke University engineer who's studied sprites for years, summed up how they form quite nicely in a National Geographic News story I wrote a few years ago:

"They're sparks created in the upper atmosphere, well above a storm cloud, that follows lightning below the cloud," Cummer said. "The [lightning] charge creates an electric field and, when it's big enough, it drives a spark that propagates upward."

The spark turns red because of nitrogen floating high in Earth's atmosphere. Something like a fluorescent tube, the gas gets excited by the burst of electricity and emits a red glow.

This one, like the handful of others astronauts have captured, probably rises up 50 miles and stretches a few miles wide.

Here's a sprite from the side that Ahrns photographed from an airplane in 2013:

(http://static2.techinsider.io/image/55d242f4371d2212008c063c-3395-2546/red-sprite-lightning-atmosphere-jason-major-flickr-cc-by-nc-sa-2.jpg)
Red sprite lightning photographed from an airplane.

QuoteAlthough they are very common, sprites are rarely photographed. A thunderstorm produces a sprite once or twice a minute yet each flash lasts only a few milliseconds. They're very hard to see from the ground, too — typically because a big, fat, scary thunderstorm is in the way.

But they can be caught by Earth-based photographers. Jason Ahrns gets incredible shots of them by flying a small aircraft around thunderstorms over Nebraska and other central US states.

Ahrns also managed to take high-speed videos of the fleeting phenomena.

This clip, slowed about 500 times, shows a sprite bursting into sparks:

via GIPHY



QuoteHere's another sprite video by Ahrns, slowed down by roughly 666 times:

via GIPHY



QuoteSprites aren't just a curious phenomenon. They might play an important role in shaping the the air we breathe by combining and breaking apart different types of atmospheric molecules.

Read more about Jason Ahrns' sprite photography HERE (http://musubk.blogspot.com/2013/08/sprites-2013-update-5.html) and HERE (http://musubk.blogspot.com/2013/08/sprites-2013-update-6.html). (Thanks to science writer Corey Powell for the tip about the sprite photographed from space.)

http://www.techinsider.io/red-sprite-lightning-photographed-from-space-2015-8#ixzz3jAYQDcDi
Title: Re: PROOF That NASA is aware of Plasma Phenomena- No not Dust and Ice
Post by: astr0144 on August 20, 2015, 12:12:18 AM
Very Interesting find "Z"..

I wonder what Jim O will say about that as an explanation..
Title: Re: PROOF That NASA is aware of Plasma Phenomena- No not Dust and Ice
Post by: zorgon on August 21, 2015, 10:44:29 AM
Quote from: astr0144 on August 20, 2015, 12:12:18 AM
Very Interesting find "Z"..
I wonder what Jim O will say about that as an explanation..

Funny he never mentioned that NASA was indeed actively searching for these. They may not be my CRITTERS but they are certainly mysterious plasma phenomena and NOT Ice and debris as Jim claims :D

So Just found THIS on NOVA   A BBC presentation of NASA seeking out these plasma SPRITES and they have a special observation port to look for plasma and other odd things in space :D

Gotta love it when NASA debunks Jim :P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RqfZFEkklg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RqfZFEkklg
Title: Re: PROOF That NASA is aware of Plasma Phenomena- No not Dust and Ice
Post by: zorgon on August 21, 2015, 10:58:21 AM
And I bet they have pictures of the CRITTERS too...

Funny how Jim neglected to tell us they have a special cupola on the ISS to observe plasma and other mysterious phenomena and photograph them  :P

(https://scontent.flas1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11898585_507121222797759_5472963583662396884_n.jpg?oh=3a3757db08493eb0ff2cb6323bdd4620&oe=56840C7C)

(https://scontent.flas1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/v/t1.0-9/11873625_507121456131069_1388097460532572120_n.jpg?oh=3afa1ea00119fb73b582d2cbc79931b8&oe=567AC6C6)

(https://scontent.flas1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11902566_507121599464388_522274029480310580_n.jpg?oh=7a85c7791cbecb1e9937efb2a55a7b9f&oe=567B4AB8)

One step closer to CRITTERS

Final nail in the coffin for Ice particles near the shuttle :P