At Last Friday (18), a strange luminous phenomenon was documented in the sky between Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay. The record was made by the Heller & Jung Observatory, located about 80 km away from Porto Alegre.
Such light events are commonly called sprites and were captured in images by the cameras of the observatory.
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This happens because the sprites appear for brief moments in the sky and are extremely difficult to perceive with the naked eye.
Let's understand the details behind these luminous phenomena that amazed Brazilians. Keep reading to learn more about what was released and how it came about.
Details about the luminous events
As reported by the person in charge of the observatory, Professor Carlos Fernando Jung, the sprites appear above of storms accompanied by lightning, being identified as brief flashes of light of low intensity.
According to him, the events are usually caused by electrical discharges during lightning storms. These, in turn, generate pulses of upward electrical energy, causing such pulses to accelerate the reaction of gas molecules in the upper atmosphere.
Recent sprites caught by the observatory. (Image: Heller & Jung Observatory/Reproduction)
The agitation caused by the gas molecules, due to the electric discharge, results in the luminous phenomena captured by the camera.
Therefore, the chemical and physical reaction of occurrences in the upper atmosphere generates the sprites as fast and different flashes in the sky.
Where light phenomena called sprites occur
Sprites are a subtype of Transient Light Effect (TLE). These phenomena occur about 50 km to 100 km above the terrestrial surface. Their formation is observed in specific regions.
Also, such events can appear after connecting lightning directly with the ground, due to the generated electrical discharge. However, not all of these lightning bolts are conducive to forming sprites.
Professor Jung reinforces that sprites need specific conditions for capturing images by cameras. Thus, he emphasizes that observation with the naked eye can be quite difficult due to the brevity of the phenomenon.