WATCH: Photographer captures rare phenomenon of lightning inside volcanic eruption
SAKURA-JIMA, Japan -- A German photographer says he has captured phenomenal images of lightning striking inside a volcanic eruption.
"Volcanic lightning during eruptions of Sakura-jima in Japan," wrote Marc Szeglat on Youtube. "The video footage of the lightnings was made from a composition of still photos. You can see an explosive eruption with visible shock wave, too."
Volcanic lightning is a rare event. Discovery News explained one theory about how it is created:
Volcanic lightning, the researchers hypothesize, is the result of charge-separation. As positively charged ejecta makes its way skyward, regions of opposite but separated electrical charges take shape. A lightning bolt is nature's way of balancing the charge distribution. The same thing is thought to happen in regular-old thunderstorms