This Video Shows the Development of Lightning in Slow Motion (VIDEO)
Caption
The video shows the development of lightning in slow motion. In real time, the duration is less than 0.2 seconds and towards the end, the discharge spans about five kilometers in all directions. The bright yellow flashes are the new radio pulses detected, which quickly fade to small white dots to give the sense of the structure. The positively charged lightning channels are seen at the top of the lightning flash, grow upwards, and appear to twinkle because of the newly discovered needles. The twinkling is most active between 0:14 and 0:21 seconds. The negatively charged channels grow downwards and are seen to grow continuously (they don't twinkle). One negative channel even reaches the ground at 0:14 seconds. Towards the end of the video, there is still some activity along the positive channel.
Credit
Stijn Buitink (VUB, Brussels) and Brian Hare (University of Groningen).
Usage Restrictions
With credit
License
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