Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2023 April 17
     [2]A large red ring is seen high above a landscape that has sparse
    clouds and a foreground building. Please see the explanation for more
                            detailed information.

                         ELVES Lightning over Italy
                 Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Valter Binotto

   Explanation: What's that red ring in the sky? Lightning. The most
   commonly seen type of [4]lightning involves flashes of [5]bright white
   light between clouds. Over the past 50 years, though, other [6]types of
   upper-atmospheric lightning have been confirmed, including [7]red
   sprites and [8]blue jets. Less well known and harder to photograph is a
   different type of [9]upper atmospheric lightning known as ELVES.
   [10]ELVES are thought to be created when an [11]electromagnetic pulse
   shoots upward from charged clouds and impacts the [12]ionosphere,
   causing [13]nitrogen molecules to glow. The [14]red ELVES ring
   [15]pictured had a radius of about 350 km and was captured in late
   March about 100 kilometers above [16]Ancona, [17]Italy. Years of
   experience and ultra-fast photography were used to capture this
   [18]ELVES -- which lasted [19]only about 0.001 second.

                Tomorrow's picture: moon shadow, moon shadow
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [31]Robert Nemiroff ([32]MTU) & [33]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([34]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [35]Specific rights apply.
              [36]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [37]ASD at [38]NASA / [39]GSFC,
                         [40]NASA Science Activation
                           & [41]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2304/Elves_Binotto_2000.jpg
   3. https://www.instagram.com/valterbinotto/
   4. https://www.lightningmaps.org/
   5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210524.html
   6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper-atmospheric_lightning#/media/File:Lightning_sprites.jpg
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210330.html
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160823.html
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper-atmospheric_lightning
  10. https://malevus.com/elves/
  11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse
  12. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/1127/10-things-to-know-about-the-ionosphere/
  13. https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2491/10-interesting-things-about-air/
  14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper-atmospheric_lightning#/media/File:ELVES_photo_by_Valter_Binotto_27-Mar-2023.jpg
  15. https://www.instagram.com/p/CqpwfZct3Lg/
  16. https://youtu.be/LLad_K1hGIg
  17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy
  18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper-atmospheric_lightning#Elves
  19. https://media.istockphoto.com/id/453035943/photo/dog-using-computer.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=XYS1h9jwgZmlELdbcBSLyHT1Au1Tx-WXxRJZSXOIE_E=
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230416.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  29. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230417
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230418.html
  31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  34. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  37. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/
  39. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  40. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  41. http://www.mtu.edu/