Rare lighting event captured on camera shows two atmospheric phenomena at once

An Italian photographer, Valter Binotto, captured two extremely rare upper-atmosphere electrical phenomena simultaneously, at the town of Possagno, near Venice, Italy. These atmospheric phenomena are called Red Sprites and ELVE. A couple of weeks ago, an exceptionally powerful lightning strike over the Adriatic Sea between the Italian and Balkan Peninsula, the electric field formed spread over the atmosphere for hundreds of kilometres.

What are Red Sprite and ELVE

Red Sprite is a transient luminous event that occurs above thunderstorms. These are triggered following a powerful lightning strike and appear like a red flash with tendrils stretching downward, often appearing like a floating jellyfish in the sky. Similarly, the ELVE (Emission of Light and Very Low-Frequency Perturbations due to Electromagnetic Pulse Sources) is also triggered by electromagnetic energy from an intense lightning strike. These appear like thin glowing disks which appear in the higher ionosphere. The colour of both of these is red because of the excitation of nitrogen particles.

These are extremely rare, the latter more than the former. Capturing them is a daunting task; it requires cameras with a telephoto lens up to 300 mm, an aperture of 1.3, a high frame rate and a tripod. The photographer requires extreme patience and dedication. Valter Binotto captured both of them together.

“Since I started more than 10 years ago, I have photographed hundreds of sprites. ELVEs, on the other hand, only three — including this one, which is a double event of sprites and ELVEs. ELVEs are very rare and therefore more difficult to photograph,” said Valter Binotto. Valter Binotto is an award-winning wildlife photographer, but he is fond of capturing atmospheric phenomena.