Explanation: The sprite and tree could hardly be more different. To start, the red sprite is an unusual form of lightning, while the tree is a common plant. The sprite is far away -- high in Earth's atmosphere, while the tree is nearby -- only about a football field away. The sprite is fast -- electrons streaming up and down at near light's speed, while the tree is slow -- wood anchored to the ground. The sprite is bright -- lighting up the sky, while the tree is dim -- shining mostly by reflected light. The sprite was fleeting -- lasting only a small fraction of a second, while the tree is durable -- living now for many years. Both however, when captured together, appear oddly similar in this featured composite image captured early this month in France as a thunderstorm passed over mountains of the Atlantic Pyrenees.

Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (post 1995)

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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Publikacii s klyuchevymi slovami: lightning - molnii na Zemle Publikacii so slovami: lightning - molnii na Zemle
Sm. takzhe: Gigantskii dzhet s Mezhdunarodnoi kosmicheskoi stancii Gigantskie dzhety nad Gimalayami Molnii sprait s vysokim razresheniem Molnii na Yupitere Molniya ELVES nad Italiei Sledy zvezd i molnii nad Pireneyami Krasnye spraity nad Cheshskoi respublikoi Vse publikacii na tu zhe temu >>