This media was created by the National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab). Their website states: "Unless specifically noted, the images, videos, and music distributed on the public NOIRLab website, along with the texts of press releases, announcements, images of the week and captions; are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, and may on a non-exclusive basis be reproduced without fee provided the credit is clear and visible." To the uploader: You must provide a link (URL) to the original file and the authorship information if available.
to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
to remix – to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0CC BY 4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 truetrue
This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it.
If the file has been modified from its original state, some details may not fully reflect the modified file.
Camera manufacturer
Canon
Camera model
Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi
Author
unknown
Exposure time
30/1 sec (30)
F Number
f/1.8
ISO speed rating
1,600
Date and time of data generation
06:42, 10 February 2007
Lens focal length
20 mm
Image title
The telescopes at Maunakea sit calmly beneath a sky filled with extraordinary light. Amongst these telescopes is Gemini North, the northern member of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Gemini North sits at an altitude of around 4200 meters (13,800 feet). Not only does this altitude facilitate world-class astronomical observations, but Gemini North’s nighttime Cloud Cams were able to capture the extraordinary light phenomena seen on the right side of the image. Thecolumn of blue and red lights surrounded by a bright blaze of white light appears so otherworldly that it looks like it must be a special effect. This breathtaking image, however, is entirely real. It features the lightning phenomena named a red sprite. Red sprites are distinctive because of their color, and also the direction in which they strike. The red and blue lights are shooting down from 50-90 kilometers toward the top of the cloud deck. It is extremely rare to capture these phenomena on camera and even more so from this unique perspective. This image was taken on 24 July 2017.
Orientation
Normal
Horizontal resolution
72 dpi
Vertical resolution
72 dpi
Software used
GIMP 2.10.18
File change date and time
19:54, 2 October 2021
Exposure Program
Manual
Exif version
2.21
Date and time of digitizing
06:42, 10 February 2007
Meaning of each component
Y
Cb
Cr
does not exist
APEX shutter speed
-4.9068756103516
APEX aperture
1.6959991455078
APEX exposure bias
0
Maximum land aperture
1.6875 APEX (f/1.79)
Metering mode
Pattern
Flash
Flash did not fire, compulsory flash suppression
User comments
The telescopes at Maunakea sit calmly beneath a sky filled with extraordinary light. Amongst these telescopes is Gemini North, the northern member of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Gemini North sits at an altitude of around 4200 meters (13,800 feet). Not only does this altitude facilitate world-class astronomical observations, but Gemini North’s nighttime Cloud Cams were able to capture the extraordinary light phenomena seen on the right side of the image. The column of blue and red lights surrounded by a bright blaze of white light appears so otherworldly that it looks like it must be a special effect. This breathtaking image, however, is entirely real. It features the lightning phenomena named a red sprite. Red sprites are distinctive because of their color, and also the direction in which they strike. The red and blue lights are shooting down from 50-90 kilometers toward the top of the cloud deck. It is extremely rare to capture these phenomena on camera and even more so from this unique perspective. This image was taken on 24 July 2017.
Supported Flashpix version
1
Focal plane X resolution
4,433.2953249715
Focal plane Y resolution
4,453.6082474227
Focal plane resolution unit
inches
Custom image processing
Normal process
Exposure mode
Manual exposure
White balance
Manual white balance
Scene capture type
Standard
Lens used
20.0 mm
Owner of camera
unknown
Serial number of camera
720304784
Unique ID of original document
01B04FAB5CE859599CECE9BBF2BA1D29
Credit/Provider
International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/A. Smith
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
JPEG file comment
The telescopes at Maunakea sit calmly beneath a sky filled with extraordinary light. Amongst these telescopes is Gemini North, the northern member of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Gemini North sits at an altitude of around 4200 meters (13,800 feet). Not only does this altitude facilitate world-class astronomical observations, but Gemini North’s nighttime Cloud Cams were able to capture the extraordinary light phenomena seen on the right side of the image. The column of blue and red lights surrounded by a bright blaze of white light appears so otherworldly that it looks like it must be a special effect. This breathtaking image, however, is entirely real. It features the lightning phenomena named a red sprite. Red sprites are distinctive because of their color, and also the direction in which they strike. The red and blue lights are shooting down from 50-90 kilometers toward the top of the cloud deck. It is extremely rare to capture these phenomena on camera and even more so from this unique perspective. This image was taken on 24 July 2017.
