Table of Contents
- 1 Where do sprites and elves occur?
- 2 Which layer of the atmosphere are sprites found?
- 3 What are elves and sprites?
- 4 Why do red sprites occur?
- 5 What are atmospheric elves?
- 6 What are sprites and elves in the mesosphere?
- 7 What are elves in the sky?
- 8 Where did sprites originate?
- 9 Why are there sprites and elves in the sky?
- 10 Where do elves occur in a thunderstorm?
- 11 How big do sprites get in the sky?
Where do sprites and elves occur?
Each of the flashes originated at altitudes around 186 miles (300 km). This region is above the water cloud layer in Jupiter’s atmosphere, where jovian lightning is generated, and is exactly where sprites and elves were assumed to form on Jupiter.
Which layer of the atmosphere are sprites found?
mesosphere layer
Bottom line: Lightning sprites, or red sprites, often occurring in tandem with lightning, are short-lived electrical discharges that flash high above thunderstorms in the mesosphere layer of the atmosphere.
Where are sprites located in the atmosphere?
Sprites appear as luminous red-orange flashes. They often occur in clusters above the troposphere at an altitude range of 50–90 km (31–56 mi).
What are elves and sprites?
Sprites are flashes of bright red light that occur above storm systems. The acronym ELVES (“Emission of Light and Very Low Frequency perturbations due to Electromagnetic Pulse Sources”) refers to a singular event which is commonly thought of as being plural.
Why do red sprites occur?
Sprites or red sprites are large-scale electrical discharges that occur high above thunderstorm clouds, or cumulonimbus, giving rise to a quite varied range of visual shapes flickering in the night sky. They are usually triggered by the discharges of positive lightning between an underlying thundercloud and the ground.
Are sprites and elves the same?
As nouns the difference between elf and sprite is that elf is (norse mythology) a luminous spirit presiding over nature and fertility and dwelling in the world of (elfland) compare angel, nymph, fairy while sprite is (mythology) a spirit; a soul; a shade; also, an apparition.
What are atmospheric elves?
Elves—Elves are brief disks of dim light that appear around 60 miles high in the atmosphere. Actually, the name is an abbreviation of the disk’s real name—Emissions of Light and Very low frequency from EMP Sources.
What are sprites and elves in the mesosphere?
Sprites are rapidly moving flashes of red light above the thundercloud that are the most common of these phenomena. They appear in the mesosphere. ELVES is an acronym for Emissions of Light and Very Low Frequency Perturbations. They are in the upper mesosphere and are extremely short lived.
What are sprites in the atmosphere?
What are elves in the sky?
Elves—Elves are brief disks of dim light that appear around 60 miles high in the atmosphere. Actually, the name is an abbreviation of the disk’s real name—Emissions of Light and Very low frequency from EMP Sources. Trolls—These red spots pop near cloud tops after the flash of an extremely strong red sprite.
Where did sprites originate?
Sprite (drink)
Logo since 2019 | |
---|---|
Type | Lemon-lime |
Country of origin | Germany |
Introduced | 1961 |
Color | Colorless |
How do I find sprites?
If you see a thunderstorm in the distance late at night, look at the sky above the clouds and watch closely. You might just glimpse a sprite. Sprites are a type of transient luminous event, like lightning, but fainter, faster and significantly larger, Jessica Leigh Hester explains for Atlas Obscura.
Why are there sprites and elves in the sky?
It’s not what you think — these beautiful flashes of light, which occur above thunderstorms on Earth, can reveal a lot about the gas giant’s atmosphere. On Earth, sprites and elves appear red, thanks to the abundance of nitrogen in our atmosphere.
Where do elves occur in a thunderstorm?
This creates a voltage difference between the cloud and the upper atmosphere, and a “spark” occurs in the form of a sprite. Elves are huge red halos that occur high in the atmosphere at around 100 km above active thunderstorms.
What’s the difference between a sprite and an elf?
Elves, on the other hand, look more like expanding doughnuts or rings. They occur higher than sprites, around 62 miles (100 km) above the ground, reaching diameters up to 300 miles (480 km) wide. But even though elves are often spotted alongside sprites, the two aren’t caused by the same effect.
How big do sprites get in the sky?
Sprites generally occur high in the atmosphere at altitudes of around 65 to 75 km, but their tendrils can extend down to altitudes as low as 40 km. They are also very large; clusters of them can cover horizontal distances of 50 km across.