A rare and intensive outburst of red lightning, also known as a "red sprite," streaked the night sky in Shannan City, southwest China's Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region, between Saturday and Sunday.
While an ordinary lightning flash extends downward from the clouds to the ground, a "red sprite" shoots way up into the upper reaches of the atmosphere. Red lightning is not easy to observe from the ground, as it occurs high above the cloud layer.
The images of the stunning and fleeting atmospheric phenomenon were captured by a 27-year-old Chinese astrophotographer using a high-speed camera in a high-elevation area on the Tibetan plateau, which is more than 5,000 meters above sea level.
In the camera footage, the lightning bolts, emitting an orange red glow, illuminate the starry sky just like a fireworks explosion, creating an enchanting spectacle. Some appeared in the shape of jellyfish.
Dong Shuchang, the award-winning astrophotographer from northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, said instead of pure luck, he did enough homework for the rare sighting and used his expertise in astrophotography to capture the extremely short-lived luminous event.
"I checked the weather forecast for May 31 and the wee hours of June 1 in advance, and did my analysis based on the satellite imagery. Without hesitation, I decided to head for [the mountains in] Shannan. I found myself a viewing spot in a sunken area on the mountain ridge with an elevation of more than 5,000 meters and pointed my camera directly south. Since I checked the weather beforehand, I was sure that my shooting would not be affected by too much cloud," Dong said in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV).
"After setting the recording mode of my camera at a high speed of 120 frames per second, I was not only able to capture clear images of the 'red sprite' in peak explosion, but also recorded the details. This is the second time that I have captured the complete course of a 'ghost sprite' event, which is an even rarer type of red lightning," Dong said.
In 2021, Dong was crowned the overall winner as the Astronomy Photographer of the Year by the Royal Observatory in Greenwich for his mesmerizing photograph "The Golden Ring," which showed an annular solar eclipse. He became the youngest winner of the top photography competition in astronomy.
Rare, stunning red lightning appears in Xizang's sky
