Glimpse of a TIGER

Every year I present an update on sprite research, and——Yes, I said sprites: lightning-like flashes that reach upward into the ionosphere. They take several forms called red sprites, blue jets, gnomes and so on, and anyway I've just put up a survey of the latest discoveries in this highly obscure but tantalizing subfield of geophysics. The newest variety of upper-atmosphere flash is called a Transient Ionospheric Glow Emission in Red, or tiger. That's not the only contrived acronym you'll find in this field. Read more...