What’s happening in the sky? Lightning . The most commonly seen type of lightning involves flashes of bright white light between clouds. Over the past 50 years, though, other types of upper-atmospheric lightning have been confirmed, including tentacled red sprites and ringed ELVES . Although both last only a small fraction of a second, sprites are brighter and easier to photograph than their more common electrical-discharge cousins. ELVES are rapidly expanding rings that are thought to be created when an electromagnetic pulse shoots upward from charged clouds and impacts the ionosphere , causing nitrogen molecules to glow. Capturing either form of lightning takes patience and experience — capturing them both together , since they usually occur separately, is rare. The featured image is a frame from a video recorded from Possagno , Italy late last month above a distant thunderstorm over the Adriatic Sea . Image Credit & Copyright: Valter Binotto https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2025-december-23-red-sprites-and-circular-elves-lightning-over-italy/