Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Light show in the night sky

The past couple of nights, I've noticed what looks like a disco strobe-light effect in the sky. Tonight I went up onto the roof and watched it for an hour or so. If it were more stable and multi-coloured, I'd liken it to the aurora borealis.

The swath of sky to the east-northeast  is constantly fluttering with light, and there are occasional flashes of distinct lightning bolts -- some big horizontal slashes, some five-pronged forks, a few that look like Khmer letters ().

Oddly, I can hear only a very occasional and very distant rumble of thunder. Is this what they call heat lightning?

We're moving from the hot dry season to the hot rainy season, which is a south-western monsoon. Is that part of the explanation why I see all this activity in the northeastern sky?

Never mind. It's peaceful on the roof, with a gentle breeze, listening to the alto voice of the woman singing at the live-music restaurant down the street, the occasional little motorbike puttering by.


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