仙女座星系与澳大利亚上空的红色精灵

来源: NASA天文 - 每日一图

原文
A dark landscape is back lit by a thunderstorm in the distance. A lone tree is visible near the center. Above the tree are two sky icons: the Andromeda Galaxy on the left and bright red sprites on the right. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.
Explanation: What’s happening over that tree? Two very different things. On the left is the Andromeda galaxy, an object that is older than humanity and will last billions of years into the future. Andromeda (M31) is similar in size and shape to our own Milky Way Galaxy. On the right is a red sprite, a type of lightning that lasts a fraction of a second and occurs above violent thunderstorms. Red sprites were verified as real atmospheric phenomena only about 35 years ago. The tree in the center is a boab, which may live for as long as a thousand years. Boab trees grow naturally in Australia and Africa and are known for being able to store large amounts of water: up to 100,000 liters. The featured image was captured last month near Derby in Western Australia.