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Illustration of St. Elmo's fire on a ship at sea Electrostatic discharge flashes across the windscreen of a KC-10 cockpit.. St. Elmo's fire (also called witchfire or witch's fire [1]) is a weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a corona discharge from a rod-like object such as a mast, spire, chimney, or animal horn [2] in an atmospheric electric field.
Pilots evacuating in preparation for Hurricane Idalia observed bright blue light outside their aircraft, an event called St. Elmo’s fire. Here’s what causes it.
St. Elmo's Fire and normal sparks both can appear when high electrical voltage affects a gas. St. Elmo's fire is seen during thunderstorms when the ground below the storm is electrically charged, and there is high voltage in the air between the cloud and the ground. The voltage tears apart the air molecules and the gas begins to glow.
Cathode rays in air produce this blue glow. [12] Electrical discharge in air is the cause of blue light emitted by electric sparks, lightning, and corona discharges (e.g. St. Elmo's fire). Auroras, the sometimes observable blue-violet hues emitted by nitrogen at lower altitudes.
The Parks and Recreation star said that he thinks the original St. Elmo's Fire connected with audiences because of its honesty in depicting the perils of young adulthood. "It was a hit in its time ...
Corona discharges can also happen in weather, such as thunderstorms, where objects like ship masts or airplane wings have a charge significantly different from the air around them (St. Elmo's fire). In many high-voltage applications, corona is an unwanted side effect.
St. Elmo's Fire was a summer movie, originally hitting theaters on June 28, 1985. A few months later, some fans decided to dress up as Billy Hicks for Halloween. "It was surreal. It was the first ...
Two under-inflated tires burst during the takeoff, starting a fire on the landing gear. The crew is unaware of the fire and retracts the gear after takeoff, causing the fire to spread. Encountering problems, the crew tries to return the aircraft to the airport, but it breaks up and crashes about 3 kilometres from the runway, with no survivors.