An amateur astrophotographer managed to capture a 230-km floating ring above his hometown in Italy.
Valter Binotto managed to capture the otherworldly sight over his hometown of Possagno in Italy.
The sparkly, firework-like phenomena are often known as sprites, with the massive doughnut-shaped rings known as Elves.
The Elves are an upper-atmospheric lightning event sometimes caught in long-exposure images above distant thunderstorms.
They’re a form of transient luminous event that happens within the lower ionosphere, roughly around 90-100 km above the Earth, directly above powerful lightning storms.
Binotto says he has spent almost a decade tracking such high-altitude displays and secured a primary image in March 2023 above a storm lots of of kilometres away from his home.
He went on to capture two more last month, including one in the identical frame as a sprite, which he believes may very well be a primary.
Speaking of his most up-to-date photoshoot, he said: ‘The shooting location was the identical – Possagno – while the thunderstorm was over the Adriatic Sea, in front of the Marche region coast, 380 km from my home.
‘This was different from the previous ones because, along with the ELVES, the lightning also produced a ravishing sprite. That is the primary and only image ever captured of such an event.
‘Once I saw it on the display, the emotion was overwhelming-I couldn’t consider my eyes, I used to be witnessing something unique, never seen before.’
In March, one other phenomenon was spotted across the UK – a glowing spiral orb.
But despite the joy from extraterrestrial enthusiasts, it’s believed to have been brought on by something else much closer to home.
The suspected reason behind the phenomenon is definitely regarded as rocket fuel from an Elon Musk space launch.
The cloud-like shape is believed to be a results of leftover fuel released by a SpaceX rocket within the U.S.
This fuel freezes immediately in a spiral pattern as a consequence of the high altitude and the rocket’s movements.
When light is reflected off of this frozen spiral, it becomes the glowing orb visible on Earth.
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