2026 July 15
Image Credit & Copyright: Mario Vargas
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)
Explanation: Is there an angry Sith using force lightning in the Tatacoa Desert? This is not science fiction, but a gigantic jet with multiple red streamers! Ordinary lightning occurs when thundercloud particles collide, lose their electrons, and build up negative charge at the cloud bottom. The cloud’s negative charge repels negative charge deeper into the Earth, leaving Earth’s surface positively charged. The opposite charges attract, reaching towards each other and superheating the air into a white strike of plasma. A gigantic jet occurs when internal cloud discharge escapes upward through a weak positive shielding layer, and shoots up from the cloud in less than a second. They extend up into the mesosphere where the air is too thin for thunder. The streamers at the top may resemble red sprites and get their color from heated molecular nitrogen.
