The red jellyfish above thunderstorms

Thunderstorms have a light show above the clouds: red sprites, fleeting electrical discharges that can look like glowing jellyfish. They last only milliseconds and occur far above ordinary thunderstorm clouds, sometimes around 80 kilometres up. Footage from the International Space Station captured a sprite above Southeast Asia in April 2012. Its red tendrils are a brief atmospheric electrical discharge linked to powerful lightning below.

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