LukaszRemkowiczTogether with friends, we originally planned to photograph the Milky Way in the Dolomites 🇮🇹. However, the forecast predicted widespread thunderstorms, so we changed our destination and headed to Geroldsee (Wagenbrüchsee) in Bavaria 🇩🇪, which offers a spectacular view of the Karwendel mountain range. 🏔️🌅 After sunset, the clouds gradually cleared, revealing the summer arc of the Milky Way. The foreground is dominated by traditional alpine cabins and meadows, while the illuminated upper station of the Karwendelbahn 🚠 can be seen on the horizon, just below Westliche Karwendelspitze (2,385 m).⚡ The most remarkable feature of this image, however, is the Red Sprites visible above the mountain ridge. These transient luminous events were recorded above a large thunderstorm system located approximately 170–180 km away, over northern Italy. 🇮🇹⛈️✨ Red Sprites are rare atmospheric electrical discharges that occur high above thunderstorm clouds, at altitudes of around 50–90 km. Lasting only a few to a few dozen milliseconds, they are extremely difficult to observe with the naked eye and are most often captured only in photographs.🌈 The image also reveals prominent bands of airglow in shades of green and red, stretching across the southern horizon.
