Jellyfish-Like Sprite Makes Surprising Appearance in Sky

Jellyfish-Like Sprite Makes Surprising Appearance in Sky
TT
20

Jellyfish-Like Sprite Makes Surprising Appearance in Sky

Jellyfish-Like Sprite Makes Surprising Appearance in Sky

If you've ever looked up during a thunderstorm and glimpsed a red jellyfish sitting high in the sky, you weren't hallucinating. These tentacle-like spurts of red lightning are called sprites. They're ultrafast bursts of electricity that crackle through the upper regions of the atmosphere, between 37 and 50 miles (60 and 80 kilometers) up in the sky, and move towards space, according to the European Space Agency. The phenomenon is a rare sighting: It lasts just tenths of a second and can be hard to see from the ground since it's generally obscured by storm clouds. But Stephen Hummel, a dark-skies specialist at the McDonald Observatory, captured a spectacular image of one of these sprites on July 2 from a ridge on Mount Locke in Texas.

"Sprites usually appear to the eye as very brief, dim, grey structures. You need to be looking for them to spot them, and oftentimes I am not certain I actually saw one until I check the camera footage to confirm," Hummel told Business Insider.

On the night he snapped this photo, he'd recorded 4 1/2 hours of footage before capturing the sprite on film. "Overall I've probably recorded close to 70 hours' worth of footage and stills this year, and caught about 70 sprites," he said, adding that half of those were in a single storm.

Davis Sentman, a professor of physics at the University of Alaska who died in 2011, proposed the name "sprite" for this type of weather phenomenon. He said the name was "well suited to describe their appearance."

Some sprites, like the one Hummel photographed, are jellyfish-shaped. Others are just vertical columns of red light with tendrils snaking down: these are called carrot sprites. Jellyfish sprites can be enormous – the one Hummel photographed was "probably around 30 miles long and 30 miles tall," he said. Some can be seen from more than 300 miles (500 kilometers) away.

"They occur because when lightning strikes the ground, it tends to release positive electrical energy that needs to be balanced out by equal and oppositely charged energy elsewhere in the sky. So sprites are the electrical discharges that balance the equation. The more powerful the storm and the more lightning it produces, the more likely it is to produce a sprite," Hummel explained.



Heavy Rain Slams Southern Japan, Triggering Floods and Mudslides 

Heat haze is seen in the background while pedestrians with umbrellas cross a railroad on a hot day in Tokyo on August 5, 2025. (AFP)
Heat haze is seen in the background while pedestrians with umbrellas cross a railroad on a hot day in Tokyo on August 5, 2025. (AFP)
TT
20

Heavy Rain Slams Southern Japan, Triggering Floods and Mudslides 

Heat haze is seen in the background while pedestrians with umbrellas cross a railroad on a hot day in Tokyo on August 5, 2025. (AFP)
Heat haze is seen in the background while pedestrians with umbrellas cross a railroad on a hot day in Tokyo on August 5, 2025. (AFP)

Torrential rain pounded the southern Japanese island of Kyushu on Friday, triggering floods and landslides and sending residents to shelters as officials issued highest-level warnings in parts of the region.

A mudslide hit a house in Aira city in Kagoshima prefecture, burying two people who were rescued alive and taken to hospital, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.

The agency issued evacuation advisories to more than 360,000 people in Kagoshima prefecture and neighboring Miyazaki.

Television footage showed muddy water gushing down swollen rivers. In Kirishima city, floodwater was up to knee level at a shopping mall.

The heavy rain paralyzed local transportation, halting trains and buses. Dozens of flights in and out of Kagoshima have been canceled.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's government set up a task force for emergency response and support. “The government will do everything to protect your life and safety,” he said.

The Japan Meteorological Agency predicted heavy rainfall and thunderstorms through Friday in Kyushu because of a low-pressure system.

JMA official Shuichi Tachihara, in a nationally televised news conference, warned that there is a growing risk of disaster, urging residents in the region to take early precautions.