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Lightning Sprites
Sprites or red sprites are large-scale electric discharges that occur in the mesosphere, high above thunderstorm clouds, or cumulonimbus, giving rise to a varied range of visual shapes flickering in the night sky. They are usually triggered by the discharges of positive lightning between an underlying thundercloud and the ground. Precis Sprites appear as luminous red-orange flashes. They often occur in clusters above the troposphere at an altitude range of . Sporadic visual reports of sprites go back at least to 1886. They were first photographed on July 4, 1989, by John R. Winckler, scientists from the University of Minnesota and have subsequently been captured in video recordings thousands of times. Sprites are sometimes inaccurately called upper-atmospheric lightning. However, they are cold plasma (physics), plasma phenomena that lack the hot channel temperatures of Troposphere, tropospheric lightning, so they are more akin to fluorescent tube discharges than to lightnin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sprite Over Southeast Asia From ISS
Sprite commonly refers to: * Sprite (computer graphics), a smaller bitmap composited onto another by hardware or software * Sprite (drink), a lemon-lime beverage produced by the Coca-Cola Company * Sprite (folklore), a type of legendary creature including elves, fairies, and pixies Sprite may also refer to: Comics *Sprite (Eternal), a fictional member of the race of Eternals in the Marvel Universe *Sprite (manga), ''Sprite'' (manga), a 2009 Japanese manga series *Sprite, alias of the Marvel Comics character Kitty Pryde *Sprite, alias of the List of Marvel Comics characters: S#Sprite, Marvel Comics character Jia Jing *Sprite comic, a webcomic that consists primarily of computer sprites from video games Computing and technology * Sprite (computer graphics), an image integrated into a larger scene * Sprite (operating system), an operating system developed at the University of California, Berkeley * SPRITE (spacecraft), a proposed Saturn atmospheric probe mission * SPRITE infrare ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airglow
Airglow is a faint emission of light by a planetary atmosphere. In the case of Earth's atmosphere, this optical phenomenon causes the night sky never to be completely dark, even after the effects of starlight and diffuse sky radiation, diffused sunlight from the far side are removed. This phenomenon originates with self-illuminated gases and has no relationship with Earth's magnetic field, Earth's magnetism or sunspot activity, causing aurorae. Airglow occurs in two forms, resulting by two different processes, but both having the same cause. Airglow is caused by sunlight splitting atmospheric molecules, which at this point produce during day the dayglow called airglow, which is too faint to be seen in daylight. During the night airglow occurs as nightglow, resulting from the recombination of the molecules which were split during daytime. History The airglow phenomenon was first identified in 1868 by Swedish physicist Anders Ångström. Since then, it has been studied in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Africa
Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Middle Africa is an analogous term used by the United Nations in its United Nations geoscheme for Africa, geoscheme for Africa and consists of the following countries: Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and São Tomé and Príncipe. The United Nations Office for Central Africa also includes Burundi and Rwanda in the region, which are considered part of East Africa in the geoscheme. These eleven countries are members of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). Six of those countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Republic of the Congo) are also members of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east. Europe shares the landmass of Eurasia with Asia, and of Afro-Eurasia with both Africa and Asia. Europe is commonly considered to be Boundaries between the continents#Asia and Europe, separated from Asia by the Drainage divide, watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural (river), Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea, and the waterway of the Bosporus, Bosporus Strait. "Europe" (pp. 68–69); "Asia" (pp. 90–91): "A commonly accepted division between Asia and Europe ... is formed by the Ural Mountains, Ural River, Caspian Sea, Caucasus Mountains, and the Black Sea with its outlets, the Bosporus and Dardanelles." Europe covers approx. , or 2% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface (6.8% of Earth's land area), making it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion of the Americas. South America is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Drake Passage; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie to the northwest. The continent includes twelve sovereign states: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela; two dependent territory, dependent territories: the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; and one administrative division, internal territory: French Guiana. The Dutch Caribbean ABC islands (Leeward Antilles), ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao) and Trinidad and Tobago are geologically located on the South-American continental shel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central America
Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually defined as consisting of seven countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Within Central America is the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot, which extends from southern Mexico to southeastern Panama. Due to the presence of several active geologic faults and the Central America Volcanic Arc, there is a high amount of seismic activity in the region, such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, which has resulted in death, injury, and property damage. Most of Central America falls under the Isthmo-Colombian cultural area. Before the Spanish expedition of Christopher Columbus' voyages to the Americas, hundreds of indigenous peoples made their homes in the area. From the year 1502 onwards, Spain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States's civil list of government space agencies, space program, aeronautics research and outer space, space research. National Aeronautics and Space Act, Established in 1958, it succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the American space development effort a distinct civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. It has since led most of America's space exploration programs, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968–1972 Apollo program missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. Currently, NASA supports the International Space Station (ISS) along with the Commercial Crew Program and oversees the development of the Orion (spacecraft), Orion spacecraft and the Sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean. The region includes Middle America (Americas), Middle America (comprising the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico) and Northern America. North America covers an area of about , representing approximately 16.5% of Earth's land area and 4.8% of its total surface area. It is the third-largest continent by size after Asia and Africa, and the list of continents and continental subregions by population, fourth-largest continent by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. , North America's population was estimated as over 592 million people in list of sovereign states and dependent territories in North America, 23 independent states, or about 7.5% of the world's popula ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hurricane Matthew
Hurricane Matthew was a powerful tropical cyclone which caused catastrophic damage and a humanitarian crisis in Haiti, as well as widespread devastation in the southeastern United States. The deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Stan in 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, 2005, and the first List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes, Category 5 Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Felix, Felix in 2007 Atlantic hurricane season, 2007, Matthew was the thirteenth tropical cyclone naming, named storm, fifth hurricane and second major hurricane of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season. It caused extensive damage to landmasses in the Greater Antilles, and severe damage in several islands of the Bahamas which were still recovering from Hurricane Joaquin, Joaquin, which had pounded the archipelago nearly a year earlier. Matthew also approached the southeastern United States, but stayed just offshore, paralleling the Florida coastline. Originating from a tropical wave that emerged off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Ashcraft
Thomas Ashcraft (born 1951, Springfield, Illinois) is an American astronomer, naturalist, scientific instrument-maker, and artist. He is known for his observations of transient luminous events (lightning sprites), meteoric fireballs, solar radio and optical phenomena, and Jupiter radio emissions. He is an artist and citizen scientist whose work, ''Heliotown II'', is on exhibit in the old pool house located on the Hyde Park campus of at the Santa Fe Institute. He resides and maintains a laboratory and studio west of Villanueva, New Mexico Villanueva is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place in San Miguel County, New Mexico, San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. Known as La Cuesta until 1890, it is located along the Pecos River and New ... where he operates the Observatory of Heliotown. Research-grade images, audio, and video captured at the observatory have been featured on NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day blog. Science practice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sprite (creature)
A sprite is a supernatural entity in European mythology. They are often depicted as fairy-like creatures or as an ethereal entity. Etymology The word ''sprite'' is derived from the Latin ''spiritus'' ("spirit"), via the French '' esprit''. Variations on the term include ''spright'' and the Celtic '' spriggan''. The term is chiefly used with regard to elves and fairies in European folklore, and in modern English is rarely used in reference to spirits. Belief in sprites The belief in diminutive beings such as sprites, elves, fairies, etc. has been common in many parts of the world, and might to some extent still be found within neo-spiritual and religious movements such as " neo-druidism" and Ásatrú. In some elemental magics, the sprite is often believed to be the elemental of air (see also sylph). Water sprite A water sprite (also called a water fairy or water faery) is a general term for an elemental spirit associated with water, according to alchemist Paracelsus. W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Thomson Rees Wilson
Charles Thomson Rees Wilson (14 February 1869 – 15 November 1959) was a Scottish meteorologist and particle physicist who shared the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics with Arthur Compton for his invention of the cloud chamber. Education and early life Wilson was born in the parish of Glencorse, Midlothian, to Annie Clark Harper and John Wilson, a sheep farmer. After his father died in 1873, he moved with his family to Manchester. With financial support from his step-brother, he studied biology at Owens College (now the University of Manchester) with the intent of becoming a doctor. In 1887, he graduated from the college with a BSc. He won a scholarship to attend Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he became interested in physics and chemistry. In 1892 he received 1st class honours in both parts of the Natural Science Tripos. Career He became particularly interested in meteorology, and in 1893 he began to study clouds and their properties. Beginning in 1894, he worked for s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
