Why are the zippers different colors? Scientists have discovered the secret of green lightning that accompanies a volcanic eruption. What color is lightning.

By carefully observing the thunderstorms, you can see that the lightning was They come in different colors.
You can judge by the color of the lightning about the properties of the ambient air: flash of red - rain in the cloud, blue - hail, yellow - dust.
A white color indicates that the air is very dry. Such lightning is especially dangerous, because it often causes fires when it is discharged into the ground.

Do mobile phones attract lightning?

For the first time in 2005, experts from the meteorological service of China reported that a tourist who was on the Great Wall of China died during a thunderstorm while talking on mobile phone... Then similar messages began to appear more and more often and from different countries... Do mobile phones attract lightning?

There is such a phenomenon - electromagnetic induction, discovered by Michael Faraday in 1831. This occurrence electromotive force(EMF) in a conductor in a changing magnetic field or due to the movement of the conductor relative to a stationary magnetic field.

When talking on a mobile phone in a thunderstorm, interaction of electromagnetic fields lightning and conductors of a switched on device (mobile phones, televisions, computers, refrigerators, not even completely disconnected from the electrical network, but located In standby).

In these devices currents are induced (induced), the strength of which is determined by the rate of change of the magnetic flux. The larger it is, the larger the induced currents. And a strong current is a very large heat, it can cause a fire or even an explosion. It's like an electromagnetic pulse damaging effect which is caused by the occurrence of voltages and currents in various conductors and in which insulation breakdown occurs, damage to transformers, damage to semiconductor devices, computers (laptops), cell phones, etc.

What trees are most often hit by lightning?

It has long been noticed that lightning strikes some tree species more often, others less often, and some hardly touch them. This can be judged by the traces of lightning on the trees - these are long strips without bark, sometimes from the very top to the roots.

Such traces are especially significant in oak. Even in ancient times it was known that of all trees, oak trees are most often struck by lightning. Ancient Slavs called oak "Perun tree" by the name of the god of heavenly fire Perun. Scientists explain this by the fact that root system oak is very developed and penetrates deep into the ground, reaching aquifers... Therefore, the oak serves excellent lightning rod.

Statistics show that most often lightning strikes tall oak and poplar trees growing in open areas.

Lightning also strikes spruce and pine, less often acacia and almost does not touch maple, hazel, and in the south - a laurel tree.

So, for 100 lightning strikes, oak accounts for 54, poplar - 24, spruce - 10, pine - 6, beech - 3, linden - 2, acacia - 1.
Despite such statistics, it should be borne in mind that it is not safe to hide from a thunderstorm under any tree.
It is believed that in normal conditions the atmosphere is always positively charged, and the earth, together with plants, is negatively charged.

It was found that, depending on the structure, plants have and different electrical conductivity... "Vulnerability" of oak, poplar and conifers associated with their structure and deep bedding of the root system, which relatively reduces resistance and thus attracts lightning, as it were - an instant discharge of atmospheric electricity.

Most often, lightning strikes tall objects, towering above the surrounding area, as well as high places, hills, stones. Therefore, being caught in a thunderstorm in an open area, you need to stop somewhere in the lowlands, avoiding clay soil (it has a high electrical conductivity). And if there are no depressions nearby, it is better to lie on the ground and wait out the thunderstorm.

If a thunderstorm is caught in the forest, it is best to stay in a clearing between trees, but no closer than 15 m from them and away from the oak tree. Better yet, hide in the thicket of the forest, in the bushes

What is thunder?

Thunder is the sounds accompanying electrical discharges during a thunderstorm, or lightning. They represent air vibrations under the influence of a very fast pressure rise in the path of lightning, due to strong heating (up to approximately 30,000 ° C). A rapid expansion of air occurs along the path of the lightning - a blast wave.

Since the sound from different points of the lightning trajectory does not come to the observer at the same time and reflected multiple times from the clouds and the surface of the earth, thunder has the character of prolonged rumblings.

Thunder is usually heard at a distance of 15-20 km, and its volume can reach 120 decibels. By the time interval between a flash of lightning and a thunderclap, you can determine how far away the thunderstorm is. And by observing the changes in this interval, you can determine whether a thunderstorm is approaching or receding.

Some people are afraid of thunderstorms. Others admire them, considering them an amazing manifestation of the power of nature. We all remember well the lightning that accompanies most thunderstorms. However, there are many different types this phenomenon. You may have seen some of them, although you did not know about them; or did not see, but felt.

The type of lightning that most people associate with thunderstorms is called cloudy-earth. It is a negative charge that strikes the ground and attracts charged objects to it. (Heat lightning is the same cloudy-earth lightning, but arising far enough, as a result of which the thunder is not heard from it). There are also intercloud lightnings that never reach the ground, and intracloud lightning that do not leave their "native" clouds.

Sometimes lightning also carries a positive charge, especially when it strikes from the top of a thundercloud. In this case, it does not descend to the ground, but moves along the horizon. She received a rather graceful name "lightning from the blue".

Some of you have probably seen a reddish flash high, high in the sky. This is another type of lightning - a red sprite. Its color often matches the name, but not necessarily. Typically, such a flash lasts a few seconds - much longer than most other types of lightning. In fact, only the brightest of the sprites can be clearly distinguished. They are often described as something like giant jellyfish at the very top of the storm.

Blue jets are another type of lightning that you may have seen but were not aware of. Especially if you have to fly a lot. These discharges also shoot upward from thunderclouds and last only a fraction of a second. But during this time they can cover more than 40 kilometers.

If you fly often, you've probably encountered dark lightning as well. This phenomenon has been studied quite recently. It is impossible to see such lightning, since it lasts only about 10-100 microseconds. Only occasionally can you see a distinct purple flash. However, it emits radiation - about the same as on computed tomography in the hospital. This is not so much, but dark lightning is very common, and it is at those altitudes where planes fly. And this makes them a significant potential threat.

Higher up, you can find the so-called "elves". These are massive electrical impulses in the form of discs. They were only captured by space shuttle cameras in 1992.

Lightning doesn't have to originate in the ionosphere to be mysterious. Scientists are still trying to understand what ball lightning is and how it works. It has only recently been possible to recreate it in laboratory conditions. Usually such lightning is associated with thunderstorms, but they are associated with other, more mystical things.

It is believed that many of the alleged UFOs were actually ball lightning, because they can fly through the sky, appear and disappear in a matter of seconds and be painted in different colors. It is possible that this phenomenon has also been mistaken for the wisps, which tend to appear in swampy areas and are considered evil spirits... Now we know that ball lightning exists, but we cannot say for sure how they form and for what reason. This suggests that some types of lightning have remained as mysterious as they were many centuries ago.

A storm of charged particles streaming through a cloud of volcanic ash can trigger an impressive green lightning. A similar phenomenon was observed by many during the eruption of the Chilean volcano Chaiten in 2008. Researchers studied this phenomenon in detail and presented their findings at the American Geophysical Union Meeting (2013).

At first glance, this phenomenon seems unusual, but in fact it occurs during any thunderstorm. As a rule, green lightning remains hidden from the human eye by thunderclouds. "It is possible that they appear during every thunderstorm, but most likely you will never see green lightning," says the researcher. atmospheric phenomena Arthur Few of Rice University in Houston. "But because of the structure of the volcanic cloud, we managed to catch it."

Two spectacular photographs taken during the May 2008 eruption of Chaitén by Carlos Gutierrez caught Few's attention during his exploration of volcanic lighting. This volcano is located in the Andes, 1285 kilometers south of Santiago, Chile, and it awakened on May 2 of the same year after being dormant for hundreds of years. Few said he decided to investigate the green lightning phenomenon out of sheer curiosity. "I asked myself, where did this phenomenon come from and why do we not see it every time during a thunderstorm?" he says.

Few believes that volcanic green lightning bolts are what scientists call "streamers," that is, rows of positive charges extending from the ground into the atmosphere.

During thunderstorms, these positively charged particles are hidden within clouds, but when these rows combine with clouds of negatively charged particles, lightning occurs. Volcanic ash, on the other hand, opens up streamers because ash particles rotate on the surface of the cloud. On the inside clouds contain ice crystals that are charged either positively or negatively. But clouds of volcanic ash carry their electrical charges on the outer surface - where the debris of rocks thrown into the air during the eruption fell.

"We rarely see streamers because they are always inside the cloud, but they can appear volcanic when observing the cloud," Few says.

The green color comes from charged oxygen atoms - the same glow appears during the northern lights.

The current volcano in Chile is the only place where the photographer managed to catch the green lightning. Nevertheless, according to Few, this does not mean that it will not be possible to detect this phenomenon near other volcanoes.

In the section on the question Are lightning bright of blue color and what does the color depend on? given by the author Lost World the best answer is Linear zipper may be several kilometers long. The potential difference between the points of the discharge can reach up to 109 V. The duration of the discharge (lightning) is from tenths to thousandths of a second. The discharge current is in the range of 103 ... 105 A. The total charge carried by lightning reaches 100 C. The amount of energy released can reach 10 ^ 9 ... 10 ^ 10 J.
Observers report that sometimes several fireballs jump out of a brightly glowing ball that appears at the lower end of a linear lightning discharge. Ball lightning is observed, which is divided into several small lightning. Ball lightning was observed, from which, even with an explosion, lightning of a smaller size jumped out.
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The color of the lightning is not always the same. This is especially noticeable during a night thunderstorm. There are lightnings blue, white, greenish, red.
What is the reason for the color differences? In my opinion, the color of lightning depends on the medium through which a ray of light passes, going from the lightning to the eye of the observer. So, for example, if the light goes through a shroud of rain, then the color of the lightning will be greenish-blue, since water vapor and raindrops absorb the red rays of light.
Red or red-orange lightning can be caused by very little or no rain (dry thunderstorm). Then the red rays of light begin to prevail over the yellow and blue, which are scattered through the fault of aerosol particles floating in the air.
Otherwise, raindrops absorb red rays and aerosol particles absorb yellow rays. Then we see blue-white lightning. The blue color of lightning can also indicate a high concentration of ozone.
Raindrops absorb (absorb) the red color, and the particles yellow. This means that if we mix the remaining colors of the light spectrum, we get a blue color. Is this how it works when mixed? And then, a drop of rain is water. Water has a different color because it contains different particles from which light is reflected. If it is "crystal" pure water, then it must absorb the entire spectrum
An example of a red lightning in a "dry" thunderstorm:
See this and other photos of lightning here: link

Thunderstorm belongs to those natural phenomena that cause awe, but at the same time enchant with their beauty. With close observation, a person can notice that lightning does not always have the same color, rather the opposite.

If in one case all lightning appears to be white, then in another they may turn out to be red, or even greenish. What determines their color, and why does it vary? Many inquisitive minds were looking for an answer to this question.

What determines the color of the lightning

Normal, that is, without impact external factors, the lightning would have a bluish purple glow. It is this shade that will give the air through which the channel passed, which warmed up to a temperature of 30 thousand degrees - it is hotter than the surface of the sun, and 5 times... But ideal conditions with earthly realities, this is a rarity, therefore, it is far from always possible to observe the classic shade of celestial electricity.

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Typically, the atmosphere contains and circulates various pollutants. The smallest dust is almost always there - and the pre-storm wind is capable of lifting rather large particles into the air.

If the air is dusty, and the rain has not yet had time to beat this dust, lightning will appear yellowish or orange.

However, if the rain has already started, knocking all the dust to the ground, this will also change the color of the lightning. Refracting on drops of water, they will have a red tint. Instead of rain, hail may come. In addition, a thunderstorm with lightning can occur with snow - this is extremely rare, but it does happen. Ice crystals also create their own optical effects, often much more interesting than in all other cases.

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Each lightning in such a situation can have an individual shade, from pink to blue - this will depend on the vagaries of light refraction, which is completely unpredictable in this situation. It is "snow" lightning that is the most unpredictable, while hail often gives outbursts a blue color.

Lightning can be clean White color... This phenomenon occurs when the air humidity is low, indicating its dryness, about the absence of rain. Experts consider such lightning to be the most dangerous - falling into the ground, they cause fires, forest fires that are not restrained by natural factors and spread quickly.

Proximity of observation

The distance from the observer to the lightning plays a role. Air scatters light waves, doing so at different intensities for different colors. So, at a great distance, the shades of lightning will not be noticeable, it will seem either white or yellowish. It will appear red, bluish or otherwise when viewed from a closer distance.

: it is not difficult to determine the distance from a person to a lightning bolt. Light and sound travel from different speed... If the flash and the crash occurred almost simultaneously or completely inseparably, the impact occurred nearby. The longer the interval between flash and sound, the further the lightning strikes.

What if you are caught in a thunderstorm?

Lightning strike is deadly danger for a person. And therefore, if you get into a thunderstorm, you should take precautions that will protect you from the risk of being hit by atmospheric electricity. So, a thunderstorm cannot be met on a hill; when a thunderstorm front approaches, it makes sense to descend into a lowland as soon as possible. In the absence of such an opportunity, it is worth looking for shelter in the ravines, any depressions in the relief. In no case should you hide under tall trees, especially detached ones.

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According to statistics, lightning most often strikes oak trees. It is not in vain that the ancient Slavs revered this tree as dedicated to Perun, the god of thunder. Poplars, especially lonely ones, are also "to taste" lightning. Immediately after them, according to statistics, there are spruces and pines. But hazel and maple are almost never struck by lightning.

Linden and acacia are also practically invulnerable to atmospheric electricity. However, you should not blindly believe such facts. Under tall tree any breed is dangerous to meet a thunderstorm. Moreover, there are other factors that can attract a lightning strike. This, in particular, cellular telephone- even working in normal standby mode. It is better to turn off the phone in a thunderstorm.

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Thus, the color of lightning depends primarily on the atmosphere and its composition, the presence of certain suspended matter in it. Dust, raindrops, snow or hail can all change the color of the lightning. The distance of the observer plays a role; at a great distance, lightning appears white or yellowish. At low air humidity, lightning looks bright white, and if you exclude the influence of all accompanying factors, they will be bluish-purple. If a thunderstorm starts during a snowfall, you will be able to contemplate a rare thing with lightning bolts of arbitrary colors, at such moments the sky can look like a New Year's garland.

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