Red Sprites Light Up Tibetan Night Sky with Jellyfish-Formed Displays
Red sprites are as stunning as they are rare. These expansive flashes take place high in the atmosphere, above thunderstorm clouds. Consequently, it is almost impossible to view them with the naked eye from the ground. Nevertheless, skilled astrophotographers have dedicated themselves to researching this phenomenon sufficiently to be positioned correctly to capture them. One such photographer is Dong Shuchang, who recently recorded a red sprite over Tibet.
Unlike typical lightning, red sprites shoot upwards into the atmosphere rather than down towards Earth. Their distinctive color comes from nitrogen reacting with electrical discharges in the upper atmosphere. This specific red sprite appeared between May 31 and June 1.
Since these lights manifest at altitudes ranging from 25 to 50 miles, Shuchang opted for a vantage point at an elevation of 16,404 feet on the Tibetan plateau. The footage, filmed at 120 frames per second, depicts these red, jellyfish-like “fireworks” illuminating the night sky in the Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region, close to the Shannan City area in southwestern China.
“I checked the weather forecast for May 31 and the early hours of June 1 ahead of time,” Shuchang mentioned in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV). “After examining the satellite imagery, I felt certain that the weather would not disrupt the shoot, so I traveled to the mountains of Shannan to locate a clear viewpoint.”
The beauty of the display did not go unnoticed by the public. The video of the red sprite has gone viral on Weibo, one of China’s largest social media platforms, amassing 1.7 million views. “Sprite lightning is generated in the middle atmosphere layer and results from electromagnetic waves produced by lightning strikes,” Shuchang clarifies in the video caption. “It exists in the air for a very brief moment, is elusive, and hard to photograph.”
His footage has also contributed to scientists’ understanding of this remarkable weather phenomenon. “By examining the parent lightning discharges, we learned that the sprites were initiated by high-peak current positive cloud-to-ground lightning strikes within a significant mesoscale convective system,” explains Professor Gaopeng Lu, who utilized Shuchang’s footage from prior red sprites captured in 2022 to examine these flashes. “This indicates that thunderstorms in the Himalayan region could produce some of the most intricate and powerful upper-atmospheric electrical discharges on Earth.”
At just 27 years old, the astrophotographer has honed a remarkable skill for identifying and documenting red sprites and other astronomical occurrences. He was even awarded Astronomy Photographer of the Year in 2021 for his image of an annular solar eclipse. Shuchang has also recorded comets and the Milky Way across various landscapes. “I’m always on the lookout for the next phenomenon,” he states.
To keep up with his work, follow Dong Shuchang on Instagram.
Astrophotographer Dong Shuchang has extensively studied elusive red sprites, allowing him to consistently be in the right place at the right time to capture them.
Recently, he documented a red sprite over Tibet.
Check out his exhilarating footage below.
Dong Shuchang: Instagram
Sources: Rare Red Sprite ‘Stranger Things’-Like Lightning Over Tibetan Sky — Captured in 120FPS | APT; Rare Red Sprite Photographed in Tibet Dazzles Social Media; Dong Shuchang on Instagram
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