NASA is looking for photos from the public to studysprites.
The agency announced the convening of its latest "citizen science project," which they're calling "Spritacular" and which will source images of the fascinating - and yes, vaguely alien-looking - sprite phenomenon, as well as other Transient Luminous Events that can occur in proximity.
Dr. Burcu Kosar, a NASA space physicist and the new project's principal investigator, said that most of the scientific community is unaware of the captures captured by people. This gap will be bridged by the creation of the first crowdsourced database of TLEs that is accessible and readily available.
According to NASA, this incredible phenomena wasn't named or documented in modern photos until 1989, when University of Minnesota researchers accidentally captured them while testing low-light film equipment ahead of a rocket launch.
"It wasn't a very high resolution or fast camera, they just captured two blobs above the storm," Kosar said. A camera pointed in the right direction kicked off the field.
The phantasms were dubbed "sprites" after the mythical beings from European folklore.
Scientists are looking to NASA-enthused citizen scientists and photographers for help figuring out why they happen.
Those who think they have captured a TLE are encouraged to create an account and upload their images, along with details about the time they were taken and their locations.
The NASA update says that the goal of Spritacular is to foster a mutual exchange between observers of TLEs and the scientific community and to inspire citizen scientists all around the world to participate in the investigation of these elusive events.
We can get involved in that effort.
There are more skylights in the space station.
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