Recently, scientists from NASA was able to further study the behavior of high-altitude lightning, called sprites. And this has helped them camcorder satellites that a few months filmed this phenomenon occur during strong storms. Although sprites for the first time has opened more than 20 years ago, they are still know very little.

Let me remind you that the sprites are a rare type of lightning discharges. They represent some kind of lightning, which occurs quite high - in the mesosphere and thermosphere. Moreover, it has long been known that they appear with a very strong storm at an altitude of about 50 to 130 kilometres (and the height of education "normal" lightning, as we know, does not exceed 16 kilometers) and reach a length of 60 kilometers and up to 100 kilometers in diameter. But what is surprising is in the interval from those 16 to above 50 kilometers is not formed any sprites, no ordinary lightning.

It should be noted that unlike normal "arrows of Zeus", sprites can have a bright colour. At high altitude, these lightning usually have a red color - not surprisingly, given at an altitude of about 70 kilometers dominant there sparse nitrogen at passage through it of electric discharges gives red glow. However, when approaching the earth surface due to the growth of pressure and oxygen color of the sprite is usually changed to blue, light blue or white.

Interestingly, usually sprites occur groups, and, moreover, are going into some pie Association, reminiscent of the carousel of the pillars of light. The data lightning mobile, and now and then making "dancing" movement. Observers from the Earth often see in the sky a huge "candles" (that is, the vertical columns of light), who rush about the stormy sky - that is "the miracle" failed to observe the author of these lines in time one strong Moscow storms in June of this year. It is not surprising that many people, faced with this unusual phenomenon, believe that saw the UFO.

According to scientists, such "candles" can reach 20 miles high and the diameter of the beam in some cases, is 70 kilometers! Spectacle agree, very majestic. Physicists say that actually sprites apply to both up and down, but the dissemination down significantly larger and faster. That is why some of them, though not often, but still can be seen.

This is a unique phenomenon of nature, scientists for the first time were registered in 1989, and completely by accident. Then during strong storms that erupted over the USA on 6 July, physics of the University of Minnesota has experienced a new sensitive camera for experiments on high altitude. Actually, the video camera was focused on the stars, but it struck the lens is the same storm that raged in the distance.

And now, after reviewing the record, the researchers found strange funnel flashes of light lasting a few milliseconds. They appeared approximately 30 kilometres above the clouds, their length was up to 20 kilometers. It was clear that we are talking about the phenomenon, first of science unknown - that it may not be the usual lightning, already knew. Intrigued, the researchers searched through satellite imagery, made during a thunderstorm, and it turned out that sometimes the shot hit dozens of such outbreaks.

And so were found sprites. However, about what it is and why there, scientists still know very little. In its time the hypothesis that such a sprite, advanced geofisicas of tel Aviv University Colin Price. "Lightning during thunderstorms can create an electric field intensity in the space above them that visually will look like a flash of light strange shape, which is usually called a sprite. We now understand that specific variations of lightning can cause this effect is higher in the atmosphere", - he said.

So, according to his opinion, the sprite is just a "reflection" ordinary lightning. However, this assumption cannot explain the existence of "dead space" - the one that exists between the height of 16 and 50 kilometers of our atmosphere, where there is no lightning, but no sprites. Why there is this gap? After all, in theory, created by lightning field of electrical tension must exist in between? Alas, have to acknowledge that the hypothesis of price at least not full.

And recently, experts from NASA, it seems, came close to unravel the mystery of the birth of sprites. Since the beginning of this year conducted a special study, which involved camcorder several satellites, aimed at the search of the mysterious sprites. In the end, now scientists got many frames that represent all varieties of this type of high-altitude lightning.

The results showed that the old view of scientists on "dead space" is not quite correct. The thing is that in some frames were clearly seen rapid jet blue (the researchers described their "jets" - by analogy with jets of plasma beating of black holes), which played the role of a connecting link between a standard white lightning and red sprites. However, fix them were rare indeed - too fast jets overcame "dead zone". However, now the link sprites with conventional lightning can be considered a proven fact.

After analyzing all the data kindly provided by satellites, researchers suggested that perhaps the sprites are born as follows. Usually when lightning electrons from the neutral clouds go down, carrying a negative charge. Accordingly, at the top of the cloud remains positive charge. However, sometimes (about during one of the discharge of the ten, with the very strong) it is the opposite. That is exactly the positive charge is moving to the surface of the Earth, and negative smartly rushes up, thereby giving rise to a sprite. This phenomenon has a blue jet and fixed camera satellites.

However, why sometimes charges are reversed, scientists still do not know. They only hope that the new data will help them to understand it. Moreover, according to NASA, the study of the sprites, undoubtedly, has practical value. Not only that, it clarifies some mysterious processes in the mesosphere, but also sheds light on the mechanism of the appearance of lightning, which is also not entirely clear. Well, if it will be possible to solve this mystery, it could be possible to more accurately predict the possibility of a strong lightning discharges, hazardous for people and buildings.

, NASA officials are very pleased that the financing of a project to study the nature of high-altitude lightning will be continued in the following years. As you can see, still one useful thing sprites already did - they did not give scientists from the organization "." from the lack of money...