An amateur observer of upper-atmospheric electric phenomena captured a once-in-a-lifetime photo of an enormous red sprite appearing over thunderstorm over Valence, France.
Nicolas Escurat, member of the International Observers of Upper-Atmospheric Electric Phenomena, captured the breathtaking image from some 315 kilometers away, at around half past nine on Saturday evening.
The images were taken near Château de Beynac.
As he reported on his Facebook page, Nicolas has already tried to hunt for red sprites from this particular spot many times. The incident on Saturday evening caught him a bit unexpectedly, as the storm was not too strong, but his cameras were set in just the right direction – luckily for all of us.
Oh, and if you ever wondered what a red sprite looks from space, check out the upper left quarter of this image by NASA (click to enlarge).
Image credit: NASA Johnson
Amazing spectacle of nature.
