Mysterious Red Halo Over Italian Town: A Rare Celestial Phenomenon
In a captivating yet rare occurrence, a mysterious red halo has been spotted over a small Italian town nestled in the Alps for the second time in three years. This UFO-like glow, captured by nature photographer Valter Binotto on November 17, around 10:45 local time, is a fascinating phenomenon known as an ELVE (Emission of Light and Very Low-Frequency Perturbations due to Electromagnetic Pulse Sources).
ELVES are expanding rings of light that form in the lower ionosphere above large thunderstorms, caused by the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) from a lightning strike. They are short-lived, lasting only a millisecond, making them difficult to observe without modern equipment. NASA first discovered these glowing rings in the 1990s, and spotting two over the same tiny town is an extraordinary coincidence.
Binotto, the photographer, explains that the red ring marks the spot where the EMP hit Earth's ionosphere. The EMP was released by a lightning bolt with an electrical current of approximately 303 kilo-amperes, which is between 10 and 30 times higher than an average thunderstorm discharge. This intense current is what creates the unique and rare ELVE phenomenon.
This is not the first time Binotto has witnessed such a spectacle. In March 2023, he spotted a similar halo at the same spot in Possagno, a small town of around 2,200 people in northern Italy. The appearance of these halos is categorized by NASA as part of Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), which are colorful, bright, and faster-than-lightning flashes generated by thunderstorms above the clouds.
The interaction of ELVES with the Earth's atmosphere is particularly intriguing. On Earth, they appear reddish due to their interaction with nitrogen in the upper atmosphere. However, on planets like Jupiter, where the atmosphere is mostly hydrogen, they appear either blue or pink. In 2019, scientists using data from Juno's ultraviolet spectrograph instrument (UVS) discovered the presence of TLEs in the upper reaches of Jupiter for the first time, adding to our understanding of these celestial phenomena.
