Fireworksaredumb - Blog Posts

You’re lying - those are way cooler than dumb fireworks!

I really don’t like fireworks. They’re environmentally damaging, loud, and they hide the stars!

So yeah, July 4th wasn’t too happy for me.

WANT MORE? GET YOUR HEAD STUCK IN THE STARS AT MY BLOG!

A camera on the Vosges mountains in France captured these surprising “fireworks” above the horizon. Generated over intense thunderstorms, these brief and mysterious flashes have come to be known as red sprites. The transient luminous events are caused by electrical breakdown at altitudes of 50 to 100 kilometers. That puts them in the mesophere, the coldest layer of planet Earth's atmosphere. The glow beneath the sprites is from lightening under the clouds.

On the right, the video frames have captured another summertime apparition from the mesophere. The silvery veins of light are polar mesospheric clouds. Also known as noctilucent or night shining clouds, the icy clouds still reflect the sunlight when the Sun is below the horizon.

Image Credit & Copyright: Stephane Vetter (TWAN, Nuits sacrees)