While an ordinary lightning flash extends downward from the clouds to the ground, a sprite shoots way up into the upper reaches of the atmosphere. However, red lightning it only lasts for a ...

Sprites were first photographed in 1989 by scientists from the University of Minnesota. Since then, they have been observed from the ground, from aircraft, and from space. However, the exact cause ...

While similar to regular lightning, which shoots between electrically charged air, clouds, and the ground, sprites happen much farther from Earth's surface. Astronauts sometimes spot them from the ...

Sometimes called "upward lightning" and "cloud-to-stratospheric lightning," sprites are momentary bursts of electricity that can literally reach the edge of space, about 50 miles above the ground.