Rev. Ball lightning (BL) has been observed with two slitless spectrographs at a distance of 0.9 km. The vortex, during contraction, gives the majority of its energy to form the ball lightning, achieving nominal energy loss. But two researchers who have pulled off a similar trick in a lab in New Zealand say their experiment may explain enigmatic weather phenomena such as ball lightning. A ball lightning effect that occurred during an electrical storm would be termed 'ball lightning'. Ball lightning (BL) has been observed with two slitless spectrographs at a distance of 0.9 km. The spectrum contained emission lines corresponding to the presence of silicon, iron, and calcium in the light of the ball lightning. Ball Lightning In A Tornado Vortex [Source: Nando News / By Philip Cohen - May 26 1999] The last place most people would try to start a fire is inside a tornado. It moves horizontally during the luminous duration. When this maintains the ionization, the ball is then a soliton in the flow of atmospheric electricity. . A new study has succeeded in capturing the first spectrum of ball lightning, offering clues about how this mysterious phenomenon is formed. A ball of lightning came into the barn through an opening and travelled along the top of a horizontal metal bar that held a litter cart, about 10 feet in the air. [100] It is similar to a liquid or solid state of matter with extremely low (gas-like) density. More recent research with transcranial magnetic stimulation has been shown to give the same hallucination results in the laboratory (termed magnetophosphenes), and these conditions have been shown to occur in nature near lightning strikes. As the microwaves ionize the surrounding air, their associated pressure may then evacuate the resulting plasma to form a bubble that "stably traps the radiation". 4441–4449. The aircraft encountered an electrical storm during which it was enveloped in a sudden bright and loud electrical discharge (0005 h EST, March 19, 1963). [98][99] However, in contrast to electron-hole droplets, Rydberg matter has an extended life-time—as long as hours. The BL is generated by a cloud-to-ground lightning strike. In some observations, the ball lightning appeared to have an extremely high energy concentration[85] but this phenomenon hasn't been adequately verified. The door-frame of the room was split and the door was torn from its hinges. The BL is generated by a cloud-to-ground lightning strike. Powell measured their spectra, and found that the after-glow comes mostly from metastable NO ions, which are long-lived at low temperatures. Such observations might ultimately suggest how to create ball lightning artificially, says Uman, and Yuan agrees. I felt a very slight shock in the middle of my right hand, which was closer to the globe than any other part of my body.[22]. For a globe the amplification factor is 3. [9][10] Another study analyzed reports of 10,000 cases.[9][11]. [74] The latter ionizes the local air and the radiation pressure evacuates the resulting plasma, forming a spherical plasma bubble that stably traps the radiation. Still invisible, and due to the central and surface tension-forces, it shrinks to an intermediate state of a cylinder, and finally into a ball. In ancient times, the drama of thunder and lightning so clearly went beyond human scale that the phenomenon was handed wholesale to the gods. The ball of fire reportedly divided into two segments, one exiting through a window by smashing it open, the other disappearing somewhere inside the church. He said that the balls sometimes split into smaller balls and may explode "like a cannon".[17]. [93], Seward proposes that ball lightning is a spinning plasma toroid or ring. One suggestion is that meteors breaking up in the atmosphere and forming charged plasmas as opposed to burning completely or impacting as meteorites could explain some instances of the phenomena, in addition to other unknown atmospheric events.[89]. 1.3 seconds of real-time video slowed down to show the ball lightning’s evolution in shape, color, and brightness and its associated spectrum. Scientific theories of ball lightning abound, with varying degrees of plausibility. [67] It was found that the most intense plasma oscillations occur in the central regions of a ball lightning. [49], The International Committee on Ball Lightning (ICBL) held regular symposia on the subject. [35][85] Lightning strikes perpendicular to the ground, and thunder follows immediately at supersonic speed in the form of shock waves[37] that form an invisible aerodynamic turbulence ring horizontal to the ground. Some experiments describe covering the match with an inverted glass jar, which contains both the flame and the balls so that they don't damage the chamber walls. A related group uses the generic name "Unconventional Plasmas". Ball lightning vanishes thus by silent extinction when the available density of charged particles is too low, while it disappears with a loud and sometimes very violent explosion when this density is too high. Nikola Tesla reportedly could artificially produce 1.5-inch (3.8 cm) balls and conducted some demonstrations of his ability,[48] but he was truly interested in higher voltages and powers, and remote transmission of power, so the balls he made were just a curiosity. Powell's kinetic theory calculation found that the ball size is set by the second Townsend coefficient (the mean free path of conduction electrons) near breakdown. Pages in category "Ball lightning" This category contains only the following page. [6][7], Scientists have proposed a number of hypotheses to explain reports of ball lightning over the centuries, but scientific data on ball lightning remains scarce. Yuan says that this is the first time ball lightning has been seen to be created by a cloud-to-ground lightning strike. The spectrum of a cloud-to-ground lightning strike and of the ball lightning it generated. Even when thunderstorms were not ascribed directly to the activity of a divine being, they were considered a disturbing premonition. [65][66] This hypothesis got significant supportive data in 2014, when the first ever recorded spectra of natural ball lightning were published. This hypothesis fails to explain observed physical damage caused by ball lightning or simultaneous observation by multiple witnesses. [86], Oleg Meshcheryakov suggests that ball lightning is made of composite nano or submicrometer particles—each particle constituting a battery. [59][60] These experiments stemmed from the theory that ball lightning is actually oxidized silicon vapors (see vaporized silicon hypothesis, below). [76][77][78] It was suggested that a ball lightning is based on spherically symmetric nonlinear oscillations of charged particles in plasma – the analogue of a spatial Langmuir soliton. The study also showed that the rapidly changing magnetic field of a close lightning flash is strong enough to excite the neurons in the brain. Both cameras were equipped with slitless spectrographs. To get maximum damage, you must place mines near the enemy to get the aura benefit from high impact, and you also must only detonate once to ensure that you get the longest possible chain to maximize damage from blast chain. (At the very least, observations would differ substantially. A ball of lightning which entered the church of Stralsund, on exploding, projected a number of balls which exploded in their turn like shells.[19]. The wind was high and the air seemed to be full of electricity. “There have been many research programs that routinely video or photograph natural and triggered lightning,” he says, “but none, as far as I am aware, has stumbled on a ball lightning.”. A review of the available literature published in 1972[46] identified the properties of a "typical" ball lightning, whilst cautioning against over-reliance on eye-witness accounts: In January 2014, scientists from Northwest Normal University in Lanzhou, China, published the results of recordings made in July 2012 of the optical spectrum of what was thought to be natural ball lightning made by chance during the study of ordinary cloud–ground lightning on the Tibetan Plateau. It travelled down the bar for a bit, then fell to the ground and exploded into sparks. Sign up to receive weekly email alerts from Physics. The presumption of its existence has depended on reported public sightings, which have produced inconsistent findings. During the service there was a powerful thunderstorm, streaks of lightning flashed one after the other, and it seemed as if the peals of thunder would shake even the church and the whole world to its foundations. Though usually associated with thunderstorms, the phenomenon is said to last considerably longer than the split-second flash of a lightning bolt. References to glowing orbs in the sky are even found in ancient texts such as the bible's account of Elijah ascending to heaven in a fiery chariot. The microwave EM field applies a ponderomotive force (radiation pressure) to the electrons preventing them from falling into the core. On 15 December 2014 flight BE-6780 (Saab 2000) in the UK experienced ball lightning in the forward cabin just before lightning struck the aircraft nose. The crew watched one ball descend, killing a man on deck and setting the main mast on fire. Gas discharge properties have been calculated, considering electrons, negative ions, positive ions and the metastable singlet delta oxygen molecules, … A Spec. Ball lightning is an unexplained phenomenon described as luminescent, spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. [91][92] There is at present no widely accepted explanation for ball lightning. I felt that one had only to look at what was happening and believe in the mercy of God, as he, my grandfather, did. Julio Rubinstein,[75] David Finkelstein, and James R. Powell proposed that ball lightning is a detached St. Elmo's fire (1964–1970). Static discharge from the cylindrical stage imply the existence of contact electrification within the object. Richmann was attending a meeting of the Academy of Sciences when he heard thunder and ran home with his engraver to capture the event for posterity. 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