Red sprites photographed from the International Space Station!
Join me below the orange squiggle.
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group gives Kossacks a safe place to check in, a daily diary where we can let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, earthquakes, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It also allows us to find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, earthquakes etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
IAN is a great group to join, and a good place to learn to write diaries. Drop one of us a Kosmail and ask to be added to the Itzl Alert Network anytime! We all share the publishing duties, and we welcome everyone who reads IAN to write diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
We do have a diary schedule. But, when you are ready to write that diary, either post in thread or send FloridaSNMOM a Kosmail with the date. If you need someone to fill in, ditto. FloridaSNMOM is here on and off through the day usually from around 9:30 or 10 am eastern to around 11 pm eastern.
Monday:
BadKitties
Tuesday:
ejoanna
Wednesday:
Caedy
Thursday:
art ah zen
Friday:
FloridaSNMOM
Saturday:
Most Awesome Nana
Sunday:
loggersbrat
Red sprites are found about 65-100 km above the earth's surface. They occur above thunderstorms and cloud to ground lightening.
Sprites only last for a few milliseconds.They are shaped like jellyfishes with red bodies and purplish tendrils hanging down.
This picture (scroll down the page just a bit) was taken from the International Space Station by astronauts on August 10, 2015. The thunderstorm was positioned above northern Mexico.
If you scroll down a bit further on the linked page, you'll see a "Troll" pointed out in the picture. A Troll is a "secondary transient luminous event." According to the writer of the article at spaceweather.com, sprites actually pull the ionosphere towards the earth and in the shrunken gap, the electric field intensifies and Trolls appear.
Sprites and Trolls. Who says scientists aren't into fantasy?
How has your week been?