“Radiation from deep space is intensifying because of Solar Minimum.

Do cosmic rays trigger red sprites?

“According to NASA, cosmic rays are intensifying,” says this article (link below). “On Aug. 6th, Roger Spinner of Montsevelier, Switzerland, witnessed a likely side-effect. “Red sprites were flashing above a thunderstorm in northern Italy about 215 km away,” says Spinner, who recorded an HD video of the display.

As the storm raged over Italy’s Lombardy region, Spinner recorded three magnificent clusters of sprites in rare detail. Shaped like jellyfish, the sprites were more than 40 km tall, with purple tentacles dangling toward the thunderstorm below and red bushy heads touching the edge of space. Balls of red light only a few hundred meters in diameter dot the jellyfish’s waist and tentacles.

“Cosmic rays may be helping Spinner capture such images,” the article concludes. “Radiation from deep space is intensifying because of Solar Minimum. During this phase of the solar cycle, cosmic rays penetrate the sun’s weakening magnetic defenses and enter Earth’s atmosphere more than usual. Some researchers believe that extra cosmic rays provide the ionizing “spark” that triggers sprites.”

See the complete HD video on Youtube.

http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=16&month=08&year=2019

Thanks to Jack Hydrazine for this link

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September 21, 2019 at 08:33AM