The lights of St. Elmah - photo and nature of an unusual phenomenon

Sea voyage and in our day on a modern liner can be a risky exercise. The element is stronger than man and technology. And what did the Mariners, who set out on uncharted land in fragile sailboats, had to do? Who was to count on, to whom to cry for help during the terrible storms?

Since ancient times, the sailors of the Mediterranean have rejoiced and calmed down when on the masts of sailing ships in an inclement weather an inexplicable glow appeared. This meant that their patron saint, Elm, had protected them.

The strengthening of the storm was spoken by the dancers, and the weakening of the fires was the fixed fires of St. Elm.

St Elm

The day of memory of the Catholic martyr Elma, who is also known as Erasmus (Ermo) of Antioch or Formian, is celebrated on June 2. The relics of the saint are in the temple of his name in Gaeta (Italy), he died in neighboring Formia in 303. The legend says that he took a martyr's death - the torturers wound his entrails on the winch.
This object remained as an attribute of the saint, with whom he came to the rescue of seamen in distress.

Cold flame

The fire on the tips of the masts according to descriptions looked like a candle flame or fireworks, brushes or balls of pale blue or purple. Amazes the size of these lights - from 10 centimeters to a meter! Sometimes it seemed that all the rigging was covered with phosphorus and glowed. The radiance could be accompanied by the sound of hissing or whistling.
Attempts to break off part of the tackle and move the flame did not work out - with the wreckage the fire rose to the mast. The flame did not catch fire, it did not burn anyone, although it was quite a long time - from a few minutes to an hour and longer.

Historical background

The ancient Greeks called this glow "Castor and Pollux", "Elena". There is also a name for the lights: Corpus Santos, "Saint Hermes", "Saint Nicholas".
In the written sources written by Pliny the Elder and Julius Caesar, notes on the travels of Columbus and Magellan, Darwin's letters from the Beagle ship, Melville's works (Moby Dick) and Shakespeare, talks about the meetings of seafarers with lights.

The chronicle of the circumnavigation of Fernand Magellan narrates: "During those storms, St. Elm himself appeared to us many times in the form of light ... on extremely dark nights on the mainmast where he stayed for two or more hours, relieving us of despondency."

Familiar not only to seamen

Not only on ships, but also on spiers and corners of buildings, flagpoles, lampposts, lightning conductors and other high objects and structures with sharp ends, the fires of St. Elmus light up.

Pilots of aircraft are also familiar with this phenomenon. On the screws, pointed tips of the wings and fuselage flying near the cloud of the liner, brush-like discharges may appear-the lights of St. Elm. Photo of James Ashby - the commander of the crew, - made once in a thunderstorm during landing in Phnom Penh, shows a blue glow on the nose of the plane.
Simultaneously, there are strong static radio interference. It was believed that this fire caused the ignition of hydrogen and caused the collapse of the huge and luxurious airship "Hindenburg" in May 1937.

Alpinists are well acquainted with the lights of St. Elmah. When they enter a thundercloud, a glowing halo may appear over their heads, the tips of their fingers shine, flames drip from the ice axes. Observers say that even the tops of trees, horns of bulls and deer, high grass shine in a thunderstorm.

Mysterious Effects

Nature presents a lot of interesting things for people to solve. Everyone knows that such phenomena as the rainbow, the halo (three suns) in the frost, the mirage in the heat - the optical tricks of the atmosphere, creating in the air prisms and mirrors, refracting and reflecting light.

The fascinating blue and green sparks of the polar aurora create a disturbance of the Earth's electromagnetic fields. The lights of St. Elm are responsible for the electricity of the atmosphere.

Scientific explanation

So what are the fires of St. Elm? What is the nature of this phenomenon? Mythology receded before the explanation of Benjamin Franklin, made in 1749. It was he who described how the lightning rod draws the "electric fire" from the cloud at a distance even before the impact occurs. The glow on the tip of the device is the fire of St. Elm.

Atmospheric electricity ionizes the air, around the pointed objects, the concentration of ions becomes maximum. Ionized plasma begins to glow, but, unlike lightning, stands still, and does not move.
The color of the plasma depends on the composition of the ionized gas. Nitrogen and oxygen, of which the atmosphere basically consists, create a light blue glow.

Corona discharge

Corona, or smoldering, discharge occurs if the potential of the electric field in the air is non-uniform, and around a single object becomes more than 1 kW / cm. In good weather, this value is a thousand times smaller. At the beginning of the formation of thunderclouds, it grows to 5 volts / cm. A lightning bolt is a discharge of more than 10 kilowatts per centimeter.

The magnitude of the potential is distributed non-uniformly in the atmosphere - it is greater near the pointed objects at altitude.
It becomes clear that the proximity of a thunderstorm (or tornado) creates in the atmosphere a potential sufficient for the appearance of an ion avalanche, causing a bluish glow of pointed objects on the dais. The sandstorm and volcanic eruption also ionize the air and can cause this phenomenon.

Tamed glow

A modern person does not need to go swimming or flying during a thunderstorm to look at the glow of ionized gas, what the fires of St. Elm are. What it is - you can see in a normal fluorescent lamp, neon and other halogen lamps. On airplanes it is necessary to install devices that do not allow atmospheric electricity to accumulate on the surface and create interference.

But although romance and myths are replaced by commonness, interest and excitement associated with unusual natural phenomena will not leave a person ever. The mysterious blue lights of St. Elm will excite the imagination of travelers and interested readers.