reputation of ball lightning have existed for hundreds of years , but footage of therare phenomenon , which appears transiently in the signifier of a glowing sphere of electric activity , has never been acquired outside the lab . Now , a squad of Chinese research worker claims it has obtained the first recorded scientific telecasting of ball lightning in action .
https://gizmodo.com/ball-lightning-a-shocking-and-totally-inexplicable-p-5601177
Above : The spectrum of a swarm - to - ground lightning strike and of the ball lightning it engender . The orb lightning is the white dot at the far left , and its spectrum is the slightly bright band of colors at the foot of the irregularly shaped main lightning spectrum . Photo / Caption Credit : J. Cen et al . , viaPhys . Rev. Lett . 112 , 035001 ( 2014 )
Incredibly , the observation was made by accident . Researcher Ping Yuan and his colleague from Northwest Normal University in Lanzhou , China had fix up spectrometers to investigate average lightning on the Plateau of northwest China . One eventide , during a electric storm in July 2012 , a thunderbolt of lightning struck about a kilometer away from their equipment , direct a ball of glowing light about five meters into the air , where it continue for less than two seconds before vanishing . The squad was able to memorialize a spectrum and high - speed video footage of the ball . Those observations have now been published inthe in vogue emergence of Physical Review Letters .
Footage of the musket ball lightning , which slow down down 1.3 seconds of material - metre observation in rules of order to highlight the orb lightning ’s “ shape , color … luminousness and its associated specturm ” can be find out here :
1.3 seconds of real - clock time telecasting slow down down to show the orb lightning ’s evolution in shape , color , and luminosity and its associated spectrum . Photo / Caption Credit : J. Cen et al . , viaPhys . Rev. Lett . 112 , 035001 ( 2014 )
A view piece bring out by the American Physical Societyprovides additional detail :
The recorded glow was about 5 meters across — the actual size of it of the ball was much smaller — and it exchange from white to reddish during the 2d or so that it lasted . Although the dark prevented the researcher from estimating the ball ’s altitude , they visualise it drift horizontally for about 10 beat and ascend about 3 meter . Yuan articulate that this is the first time lump lightning has been catch to be created by a cloud - to - earth lightning strike .
The investigator found that the spectrum contained several emission line from atomic number 14 , Fe , and Ca — all elements expected to be abundant in stain . One would also ask aluminium to be present , given its copiousness in soil minerals . But the research worker could n’t confirm that , as there are no emission rail line of electroneutral aluminum particle within the spectral grasp of their pawn ( wavelengths of 400–1000 nanometers ) . The team also used their picture data point to plot the ball lightning ’s intensity level and evident diameter as they variegate in metre , down to the millisecond time - scale .
“ I think that this is a unique observance that is likely of ball lightning , or one type of ball lightning , ” enunciate lightning specialiser Martin Uman of the University of Florida in Gainesville , in an interview with The American Physical Society . “ There have been many research programs that routinely video or photograph natural and triggered lightning , ” he says , “ but none , as far as I am cognizant , has stumbled on a ball lightning . ”
The report is issue inPhysical Review Letters . show more details atThe American Physical Society .
[ Physical Review LettersandAPSviaMedium ]
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