Earth's mysterious red glow, explained - Zoe Pierrat episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 7, 2026 · 6 MIN

Earth's mysterious red glow, explained - Zoe Pierrat

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Explore the phenomenon and uses of chlorophyll fluorescence, a small amount of light emitted by plants during photosynthesis.--In 2009, a satellite circled Earth, scanning and sorting the wavelengths reflecting off the planet’s surface. Researchers noticed something baffling: an unexpected wavelength of unknown origin. They tried looking at Earth with only this wavelength, and saw the planet covered in a red hue of varying intensity. So, what was going on? Zoe Pierrat explores the science of chlorophyll fluorescence.Lesson by Zoe Pierrat, directed by Denis Chapon, The Animation Workshop.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/earth-s-mysterious-red-glow-explained-zoe-pierratDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/earth-s-mysterious-red-glow-explained-zoe-pierrat#digdeeperAnimator's website: http://denischapon.comMusic: https://soundcloud.com/aim-music----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Fernando A. Endo, Helen Lee, pam morgan, sarim haq, Juan Pablo Rodriguez Morales, ANNE FINE, Gerardo Castro, Siddharth Toshniwal, Michel-Ange Hortegat, Enes Kirimi, Amaury BISIAUX, Aravind C V, ND, Samyogita Hardikar, Vandana Gunwani, LvL042, Abdulmohsin Almadi, Andrew Brodski, AJ Lyon, John van den Berg, Anandha Krishnan, Geoffrey Bultitude, Mi Mi, Thomas Rothert, Christopher McVay, Javier Aldavaz, Ivan Yeung, Jaime Camacho, Brian Elieson, Grayson Garbarino, Oge O, Weronika Falkowska, Stefano Esposito, Nevin Spoljaric, Yvonne Feijoo, Sid Chanpuriya, Arjay Arcinue Dineros, Anoom Yasmin, Anoop Varghese, David Yastremski, Noah Webb, B, Jason Harrison, Erica Guerrero, Roberto Chena, Oliver Koo, Luke Pisano, Andrea Gordon, Aleksandar Donev and Nicole Klau Ibarra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Explore the phenomenon and uses of chlorophyll fluorescence, a small amount of light emitted by plants during photosynthesis.--In 2009, a satellite circled Earth, scanning and sorting the wavelengths reflecting off the planet’s surface. Researchers noticed something baffling: an unexpected wavelength of unknown origin. They tried looking at Earth with only this wavelength, and saw the planet covered in a red hue of varying intensity. So, what was going on? Zoe Pierrat explores the science of chlorophyll fluorescence.Lesson by Zoe Pierrat, directed by Denis Chapon, The Animation Workshop.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/earth-s-mysterious-red-glow-explained-zoe-pierratDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/earth-s-mysterious-red-glow-explained-zoe-pierrat#digdeeperAnimator's website: http://denischapon.comMusic: https://soundcloud.com/aim-music----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Fernando A. Endo, Helen Lee, pam morgan, sarim haq, Juan Pablo Rodriguez Morales, ANNE FINE, Gerardo Castro, Siddharth Toshniwal, Michel-Ange Hortegat, Enes Kirimi, Amaury BISIAUX, Aravind C V, ND, Samyogita Hardikar, Vandana Gunwani, LvL042, Abdulmohsin Almadi, Andrew Brodski, AJ Lyon, John van den Berg, Anandha Krishnan, Geoffrey Bultitude, Mi Mi, Thomas Rothert, Christopher McVay, Javier Aldavaz, Ivan Yeung, Jaime Camacho, Brian Elieson, Grayson Garbarino, Oge O, Weronika Falkowska, Stefano Esposito, Nevin Spoljaric, Yvonne Feijoo, Sid Chanpuriya, Arjay Arcinue Dineros, Anoom Yasmin, Anoop Varghese, David Yastremski, Noah Webb, B, Jason Harrison, Erica Guerrero, Roberto Chena, Oliver Koo, Luke Pisano, Andrea Gordon, Aleksandar Donev and Nicole Klau Ibarra. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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This episode was published on June 7, 2026.

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Explore the phenomenon and uses of chlorophyll fluorescence, a small amount of light emitted by plants during photosynthesis.--In 2009, a satellite circled Earth, scanning and sorting the wavelengths reflecting off the planet’s surface. Researchers...

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