Bold claim: a single photograph captured two of the sky’s most elusive lightning phenomena, including an exceptionally rare ELVE. And yes, it happened over Italy.
A European photographer, Valter Binotto, photographed two extraordinary electrical events in one frame on November 28 near Possagno: an ELVE and a Sprite. Binotto describes the scene on Instagram as a rare dual appearance, with the red tentacle-like Sprite at the center and a red ring surrounding them representing the ELVE. ELVEs are enormous and uncommon, produced when an exceptionally strong lightning discharge creates a powerful electromagnetic pulse that travels upward to the ionosphere. The red ring marks the EMP’s impact point on the ionosphere.
By including visible stars in the shot, Binotto could estimate the ELVE’s size: about 85 kilometers (53 miles) tall and 230 kilometers (143 miles) in diameter. He notes that the famous Independence Day alien mothership was about 550 kilometers (342 miles) across, making this ELVE a substantial, though smaller, rival in comparison.
Binotto is no stranger to ELVEs; in 2023 he captured an even larger instance, measuring 359 kilometers (223 miles) wide. He explains that ordinary cameras struggle with ELVEs because their light is faint and primarily infrared, outside the range of standard sensors. To overcome this, he uses a camera without the infrared cut filter, enabling better IR sensitivity.
ELVE bursts last only about a millisecond, so Binotto records video at high ISO with a wide-open lens to catch the fleeting event. Securing a Sprite in the frame as well is especially remarkable, given they’re sparked by a single lightning strike over the Adriatic Sea roughly 350 kilometers (217 miles) away from his vantage point. The strike’s peak current reportedly reached about 387 kA, around ten times that of a typical lightning bolt.
For clarity: ELVE stands for Emissions of Light and Very Low-Frequency Perturbations due to Electromagnetic Pulse Sources. It’s a rare Sprite subtype—a large-scale electrical discharge occurring high above thunderclouds. Researchers continue to study these phenomena to better understand their origins and implications.
Binotto’s interest in capturing ELVEs and sprites began in 2017 after discovering images online and challenging himself to recreate them. His ongoing work can be explored on his Facebook, Instagram, and official website linked in the original credits.
Image credits: All photos by Valter Binotto.
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