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Comprehensive Lecture on Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) Presentation 

December 4th, 2024, Spritacular Citizen Scientist Captures Photo of Elusive Upper Atmospheric Electrical Phenomena Over Château de Beynac. A flash of lightning, and then—something else. High above a storm, a crimson figure blinks in and out of existence. If you see it, you are a lucky witness of a sprite, one of the least-understood electrical phenomena in Earth’s upper atmosphere. Learn more: https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/spritacular/
Photo and text credit: Photo by NASA’s Spritacular project participant Nicolas Escurat; text by Miles Hatfield. Copyright Thanasis Papathanasio.
Levels
  • Intermediate (6-8)
  • Advanced (9-12+)
Material Type
  • Presentation/Lecture
Heliophysics Big Ideas
  • Big Idea 1.2 – The Sun is active…
NGSS
  • ESS2 - Earth's Systems
Heliophysics Topics
  • Atmosphere
  • Ionization
  • Magnetic Field
  • Energy
Material Cost per Learner Free
Language English

This comprehensive lecture on Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) includes three interrelated lectures:

  1. Thunderstorms and Lightning
  2. Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), and
  3. Sprites

Each lecture explains the phenomena, structure, and physics and chemistry related to these atmospheric events. Students explore real examples of these spectacular upper-atmosphere phenomena while educators receive detailed notes to accompany the slides. The presentation concludes with important safety measures and invites learners to become sprite chasers, encouraging continued observation and study of these rare lightning-related events.

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Presentation on the Comprehensive Lecture on Transient Luminous Events

Dec 5, 2025

(588.29 MB)