St. Elmo’s Lights — what is it?

Wandering droplets of light that appear in stormy weather, having the form of translucent glare, and sometimes even glow in the form of a crown – a natural phenomenon that can be found in different parts of the planet around pointed objects. For example, on the masts of ships, the tip of a tower or the rocky tops of mountains. Having met with this phenomenon, it is difficult to imagine that its origin is by no means fantastic and mysterious, but has a scientific explanation.

St. Elmo's lights are electrical discharges that occur on objects that have a sharp tip. The discharge of the "spark" itself is a bundle of sparks, spreading from the tip of something upwards. By the way, you can observe this phenomenon at home. For example, to bring a needle to a sufficiently electrified object (synthetic clothing, a color TV screen).

In nature, this phenomenon can be observed during a thunderstorm or blizzard. It is at such moments that the intensity of the electric field of the atmosphere near objects reaches a sufficiently high value, about 500 V / m.

But there was not always a rational explanation for this phenomenon. Let's talk about some of the most interesting versions:

In ancient Rome, sailors believed that crazy stars descended from the sky and rode on the masts of their ships. And it was considered a good sign. It means that the storm will end soon, and in the coming days the sea will be calm. However, if "crazy stars" appeared over a person's head, it promised him misfortune.
A large cluster of lights in bad weather appeared from time to time on the spires of St. Elmo's Cathedral. Eyewitnesses took the lights for the ghosts of departed people.

It is interesting:

At all times, sailors have had their patrons. Thus, the Catholic Saint Elm prayed all his life for the welfare of sailors. And he died during a thunderstorm, and when he died, he promised everyone who trusted him that he would remind himself of himself with cheerful dancing bright lights.

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