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 known as sprites, with the large doughnut-shaped rings referred to as Elves.
The Elves are an upper-atmospheric lightning event sometimes caught in long-exposure images above distant thunderstorms.
They are a type of transient luminous event that occurs in 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 first image in March 2023 above a storm hundreds of kilometres away from his home.
He went on to capture two more last month, including one in the same frame as a sprite, which he believes could be a first.
Speaking of his most recent photoshoot, he said: ‘The shooting location was the same – 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, in addition to the ELVES, the lightning also produced a beautiful sprite. This is the first and only image ever captured of such an event.
‘When I saw it on the display, the emotion was overwhelming-I couldn’t believe my eyes, I was witnessing something unique, never seen before.’
In March, another phenomenon was spotted across the UK – a glowing spiral orb.
But despite the excitement from extraterrestrial enthusiasts, it is believed to have been caused by something else much closer to home.
The suspected cause of the phenomenon is actually thought to be rocket fuel from an Elon Musk space launch.
The cloud-like shape is believed to be a result of leftover fuel released by a SpaceX rocket in the U.S.
This fuel freezes instantly in a spiral pattern due to 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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