The red fairy, which rarely appears in Chile, has been spotted. Bright red streaks, also known as red fairy or red sprites, were featured in an image showing the Atacama Desert sky near the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) La Silla Observatory.
WHAT IS THE RED FAIRY?
Red fairies are defined as large-scale electrical discharges that occur far above storm clouds, often triggered by positive lightning discharges between a lower thunder cloud and the ground, Science Alert reports. However, the red fairy is said to be seen high in the Earth’s atmosphere, sometimes at an altitude of 50-90 kilometers.
Currently, red fairies are photographed and filmed thousands of times, including by astronauts aboard the International Space Station, but red sprites are still extremely rare. This new photo from ESO looks like a painting.
AT HORIZON, LOW
Red fairies appear low on the horizon due to the perspective of the camera on the platform of ESO’s 3.6-metre telescope in La Silla. The background of the photo shows a green tint known as skylight (nightlight).
ESO explained that during the day, sunlight removes electrons from nitrogen and oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere, and at night these electrons recombine with atoms and molecules, causing them to glow.
Skylight is usually visible in very dark skies without light pollution.