El duende de una noche de verano — una cámara capta un extraño fenómeno en La Silla
El prólogo de esta imagen única y espectacular del Observatorio La Silla empieza con un cielo despejado, enjoyado con objetos celestes y manchado con luminiscencias nocturnas rojas y verdes. Entre el elenco celeste encontramos a la Pequeña y a la Gran Nube de Magallanes, justo a la derecha del centro; también tenemos el brillo entre rosado y rojizo de varias regiones de formación estelar; y la débil raya verde de un meteorito justo a la izquierda de la Vía Láctea. Sin embargo, estos habituales personajes del cielo se ven eclipsados por la presencia de algo mucho más elusivo y cercano.
Los seis paneles insertados a lo largo de la parte inferior de la imagen amplían un fenómeno atmosférico extremadamente raro conocido como duende atmosférico (sprites en inglés). Unas horas antes del amanecer — marcado por la aguja de luz zodiacal, elevándose desde la base de la Vía Láctea — una poderosa tormenta apareció en el horizonte distante y la atmósfera superior de la Tierra se convirtió en un patio de recreo para estos efímeros eventos.
Bautizados así en honor a dos personajes de Shakespeare (Puck, el travieso duende de la obra “El sueño de una noche de verano”, y Ariel, personaje de la obra “La tempestad”), los duendes atmosféricos son generados por irregularidades en la ionosfera, muy por encima de las nubes de tormenta, a una altura de unos 80 kilómetros. Generalmente se ven como grupos de flashes de color rojo-naranja y se desencadenan por un rayo de nube a tierra positivo, menos común y más poderoso que su contraparte negativa, ya que la descarga del rayo se origina en las regiones superiores de la nube, más lejos de la tierra. En una corta ráfaga, el duende atmosférico se extiende rápidamente hacia abajo, creando rojos zarcillos colgantes antes de desaparecer.
Los duendes atmosféricos de la foto se produjeron en el transcurso de unos 40 minutos y, probablemente, se encontraban a más de 500 kilómetros de distancia (hagan la comparación con esta imagen obtenida desde un satélite que muestra la tormenta sobre Argentina): cada uno podía alcanzar una altura de hasta 80 kilómetros y durar sólo una fracción de segundo. Son sumamente difíciles de capturar sin cámaras científicas especializadas, pero estos espíritus del aire recompensaron la paciencia del Fotógrafo embajador de ESO, Petr Horálek, con esta impresionante serie de imágenes.
Petr captó otra hermosa imagen de duendes atmosféricos en La Silla, y continuó hacia Paranal, donde hizo esta impactante fotografía desde la plataforma del VLT (que tuvo su origen en esta tormenta).
Crédito:P. Horálek/ESO
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