Red Sprites and Blue Jets Explained - New Discovery!

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Science of how red sprites and blue jets form over thunderstorms. Some of the greatest red sprites ever caught on camera with easy to understand explanations including a new discovery are highlighted in this video. Explore the colorful world of Transient Luminous Events including gigantic jets, elves, halos and more as they are initiated by massive horizontally extensive lightning flashes in thunderstorms far below.

COPYRIGHT 2020 PECOS HANK & PAUL SMITH

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RED SPRITES and BLUE JETS EXPLAINED
On rare nights with clear visibility over powerful distant thunderstorms, you might be able to see and capture red sprites. Sprites are large scale electrical discharges occurring high above thunderstorms in the upper atmosphere. They are massive events, sometimes 50 kilometers tall by 50 kilometers wide. Sprites belong to a mysterious and colorful group of phenomenon called Transient Luminous Events, or TLEs. Other TLE’s include halos, Elves, trolls, secondary jets, Blue starters, Blue jets and the magnificent gigantic jets. But what exactly are these transient luminous Events, and how do they form? 

In 2019 I teamed up with one of the most successful TLE photographers in the world, Paul Smith. Our objective was to simultaneously document TLEs from different locations to help US understand and CAPTURE them better. We didn’t know what we would find, if anything… But we never expected to DISCOVER a NEW TLE.

RED SPRITE DISCOVERY
Visual reports of Transient Luminous Events date back several centuries.
It wasn’t until 1989 that the first ones were accidentally caught on camera.
Years after discovery, they were named sprites for their spirit like nature.

BASIC PHYSICS:
In my last video we showed how one lightning flash can abruptly change the electric field triggering a second lightning flash in a sort of domino effect. Sprites are also initiated by a large electric field change that occurs during a massive horizontally extensive lightning strike far below. These parent flashes transfer huge amounts of charge and are almost always positive in polarity… Meaning that the earth rapidly gains a net positive charge from the strike. But pools of positive charge near the tops of thunderstorm complexes also change, abruptly gaining negative charge.
This suddenly creates a powerful electric field between the tops of thunderstorms and a high concentration of positively charged ions existing 100 kilometers or so up into the lower ionosphere. It’s this new imbalance that can initiate a sprite.

BLUE JETS:
On occasion, a cloud flash will have one end of the leader exit the upper extent of the thunderstorm and propagate toward the upper atmosphere.  The rarified air and low pressure of the upper atmosphere leads to a visible transformation in the leader as the ionization travels upward.  This is how a blue jet forms, as well as gigantic jets.

SECONDARY JETS:
Sometimes a large sprite event can trigger a second TLE. We call these secondary jets. Secondary jets become visible near the tops of thunderstorms where Nitrogen excites in the blues or purples and extend upward to altitudes where Nitrogen excites more red. In a photograph of a sprite and secondary jet event, you can see the gradual transitioning from blues to reds as the pressure quickly decreases in altitude.

NEW TLE DISCOVERY
On May 25, 2019 I was documenting a vibrant sprite storm over Oklahoma and captured something I’ve never seen or heard of. After two large sprite events, a mysterious green afterglow appeared. It seemed as if the sprite had triggered a small Aurora. Early that next morning I called Paul to discuss the strange captures. He was the first to agree it was something new and hypothesized that it was likely oxygen being excited by powerful sprites. Keeping in the theme of sprites, trolls and elves, we are referring to these Green emissions from excited Oxygen in Sprite Tops as GhOSTs.

CREDITS:

MUSIC by Hank Schyma, Dan Workman and Christine Wu.
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Imaging being able to watch sprites, lightning, and see the Milky Way at the same time. Hank’s profession is amazing.

BrandonSmith-gbcw
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when you get that one notification that pecos hank uploaded, you exit out of ANY other thing you were doing immediately. and you watch the video!

jimmys
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The green color reminds me of when you see a flash and you have that random color spot left in your sight after readjusting to the flash.

AkagiZillo
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It blows my mind that you were able to discover something new, in my opinion you are the best storm chaser, not only because you look, but because you actively search for new information, you inspire me so much! I hope to discover something new in this world of seemingly unlimited information, thanks!

emmaburlet
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This is *hands down* the BEST atmospheric phenomenon video I have ever watched. Thanks for making this and sharing with us!

treborironwolfe
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I've loved watching thunderstorms since childhood, the elemental power of nature has always left me awestruck but the storms we get where I live a small in comparrison to the monsters the Hank gets to see, but thanks to this channel I can ride along with one of the most listenable, knowledgable storm chasers in the world.
Thank you Pecos Hank for allowing us to ride along with you as you see these awsome events.

yawningkitty
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7:11 I've never heard Hank squeal like a kid at Christmas from this amount of excitement! Adorable and funny simultaneously!

WarhammerWings
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My cousin and I saw those as kids, about '72, ran like hell into the house. We thought the aliens were on the way.

michaellyle
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Nature gives many oppurtunities to see the beauty of it.Pecos hank is very hardworking and i like watching his videos. keep making more vidos as I am a kid who wants to understand nature. thanks for videos hank

jatanyt
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That is amazing footage, The stills look like some of those Nazca lines in Peru or petroglyphs out west. Less light in those days would mean the sprites might have been easier to see and the indigenous cultures had their own ideas of what they may have been...

JungleJayAdventures
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My husband and I found your channel this week and we absolutely adore it! We have learned so much about the sky and how weather systems work in the last several days. Thanks so much for creating this channel and posting all these videos! Now we can't wait till monsoon season here in Arizona (just a few weeks away!) :)

caryn
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Pecos you and your friends might be just having a good time doing what you love, but you just made a scientific and meteorological discovery that no one has documented before. Congrats dude! I like the name you guys chose for these events as well, "ghost" realy fits the theme.

samsam
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Nice concise and understandable explanations. I've been kind of perplexed at seeing "upward red lightning" over distant t-storms here in AZ; in fact I saw a couple more tonight. This makes a lot of sense, and your videos correspond pretty much exactly with what I've seen with my naked eye (although in much greater detail). Funny the stuff you stumble across "surfing" YouTube late at night. 😛

MrJest
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Nice work to everyone that has been capturing these fantastic videos. I didn't know what they were at the time but I saw some of these while I was sailing in the Caribbean. When I had the midnight watch, my eyes would be totally low light sensitive after a few hours. Nothing but starlight and below the horizon thunderstorms to desensitize my eyes. Since the sea if flat right to the horizon, I could sometimes see the cloud tops further away than I could see the storm on radar. I saw what I now know are red sprites for two nights in a row. My brother thought I was nuts but, thanks to Hank, I know now I wasn't. :-)

sarjim
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At this point in my life there is nothing I would choose to watch over a Pecos Hank video, Amazing work with Paul Smith. You never cease to inspire me, Stay safe brother.

daveofthematthews
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This is the kind of thing that makes me crazy wanting to know EVERYTHING ! Awesome video !

sharonolsen
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You have some of the most soothing videos on Youtube, I learn so much from you! I got to tell my mother a new fact today :D!

Nightmare-yxnl
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Why does that make me think of something like a glitch in the matrix lol

AlexIlk
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Not only are you capturing amazing footage of things rarely seen, you have the keen eye to spot the things no one else has. It's a testament to your character, persistence, and passion for understanding. Thank you for being out there, Hank, watching the skies and spreading the word.

RusselSprouts
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Gorgeous Hank...you really need to put together a 2hr DVD of all your best weather and nature videos...I'd buy it!!😉👍🇦🇺

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