Photographer captures rare lightning against the backdrop of the Perseid meteor shower

American photographer Paul Smith has taken a stunning image that captures a rare lightning bolt against the backdrop of the Perseid meteor stream.

The phenomenon is called a red sprite, one of the rarest forms of upper-atmospheric lightning.

Ared sprite is a discharge of cold plasma that occurs above thunderstorm clouds at an altitude of 40 to 100 kilometres. Unlike ordinary lightning, the temperature of the matter in sprites does not rise to very high values. The phenomenon was confirmed by scientists only about 30 years ago, but remains rare.

Smith said that the lightning he captured was about 160 kilometres away.