A remarkable celestial event took place over New Zealand‘s South Island when three skilled photographers accidentally captured images of “red sprites”, a rare type of transient luminous event (TLE). This phenomenon involves bright red flashes appearing high in the atmosphere and is one of the most elusive light displays in the world.
This extraordinary capture happened on October 11th, when New Zealand-based photographer Tom Rae teamed up with Spanish photographers Dan Zafra and José Cantabrana. They initially aimed to photograph the Milky Way galaxy above the distinctive Ōmārama Clay Cliffs in the South Island, and it can be mentioned that they felt fortunate to have clear skies for their night photography session, but the evening quickly turned into what Rae described to the Guardian as “an unforgettable one.”.
The unexpected surprise started when Cantabrana spotted a storm forming on the horizon and suggested that conditions might be right for a display of red sprites. Soon after, they got their first confirmation. “He was checking his files for a Milky Way panorama and discovered he had captured red sprites,” Rae recounted. The realisation of their discovery ignited excitement in the dark, with Rae noting, “Dan and I just could not believe it. There was a whole bunch of screaming and shouting and all sorts going on.”
The Science Behind the Spectacle
Red sprites are not conventional lightning. They are large, brief bursts of electrical energy that occur in the upper atmosphere, created by powerful thunderstorms below. Unlike traditional lightning, which travels downward toward the ground, red sprites shoot upward, sometimes reaching heights of 50 to 90 kilometres. Their shapes are often described as ethereal columns, large carrots, or even vast jellyfish, depending on how they illuminate the ionosphere.
Furthermore, the duration of these events is only a few milliseconds, making them rarely visible to the unaided eye. The first photographic evidence of a red sprite was an accidental capture in 1989 by a research team at the University of Minnesota, highlighting the challenges in documenting them. However, on this particular night, Rae had a lucky, direct sighting. “At that moment, I was looking directly at a red sprite when it appeared.”
The Art and Reward of Astrophotography
For Rae, an award-winning nightscape photographer, witnessing this phenomenon was a lifelong dream. The visual impact of the sprites is strong, making the experience feel almost surreal. They said it looked like seeing something that wasn’t real and was very ethereal. Additionally, the sprite’s deep red colour, present for a fleeting moment, was truly captivating to witness. Getting a red sprite requires a combination of technical photography skills, a basic understanding of atmospheric science, and some creative insight. Rae described it as a “really involved type of photography that’s very rewarding as well.”
Zafra shared this sentiment, calling the event one of the “most extraordinary nights” of his life. He observed the powerful interplay of the celestial and atmospheric display: “I could see the Milky Way glowing above the horizon while these enormous red tendrils of light danced above a storm hundreds of kilometres away,” he described. Additionally, the resulting images may be quite unique, as Zafra believes there are no other known photographs that show both red sprites and the Southern Hemisphere Milky Way in a single frame. For the photographers, this moment was special—a time when they knew they were witnessing something they would probably never see again.
