This week’s Image of the Week is taken from a recent Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics article using nanosecond photography to investigate metre-scale negative laboratory discharges.

The pilot system reconnections indicated by small arrows. Exposure time is 100ns. Image (c) IOP Publishing. All rights reserved. 

The study of laboratory discharges suggests there are similarities between such discharges and high-altitude sprites, and that they may be the result of the same underlying physical phenomena.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Image taken from Pavlo Kochkin et al 2016 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 49 425203. Image (c) IOP Publishing. All rights reserved.

Categories: Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, JPhys+

Tags: Applied physics, Image of the week, Jphys+