Copyright:Mario Vargas
Text:
Keighley Rockcliffe
(NASA
GSFC,
UMBC CSST,
CRESST II)
中文翻譯:
在塔塔科亞沙漠中，有一種神秘而美麗的紅色火焰，這可不是憤怒的西斯在使用力量閃電，而是一種叫做紅色精靈的現象！平常我們看到的閃電是因為雲層中的粒子碰撞，失去電子而產生負電。在雲層底部的負電會把地面上的負電排開，讓地面帶上正電，這樣正負電就會相互吸引，形成閃電，超熱的空氣會讓閃電閃爍。如同短暫的微小活動的紅色精靈，是在正電閃電發生後的一瞬間出現。它們的光芒來自於受熱的氮分子，升到高空其中空氣太稀薄，不會有雷聲。紅色精靈可能是因為之前的正電閃電把帶負電的雲層表面與帶正電的高空結合起來所造成的。你知道嗎？就連NASA的朱諾號探測器在木星上也發現了這樣的現象，這意味著紅色精靈不僅在地球上，其他星球也能看到哦！
原文:
Is there an angry Sith using force lightning in the Tatacoa Desert? This is not science fiction, but a red sprite with multiple streamers! Ordinary lightning occurs when thundercloud particles collide, lose their electrons, and build up negative charge at the cloud bottom. The cloud’s negative charge repels negative charge deeper into the Earth, leaving Earth’s surface positively charged. The opposite charges attract, reaching towards each other and superheating the air into a white strike of plasma. Red sprites are millisecond events triggered by positive cloud-to-ground lightning. They extend up into the mesosphere where the air is too thin for thunder. Their red glow comes from heated molecular nitrogen. There are several potential causes for red sprites, including that the preceding positive lightning exposes the negatively charged cloud core to the positively charged upper atmosphere, allowing those charges to connect. NASA’s Juno has observed sprites on Jupiter, indicating that sprites occur on other planets!
來源:NASA每日圖片
