INSTRUCTIONS AND PROPHECIES OF THE Blessed MOTHER ALIPIA GOLOSEEVSKY, Kyiv...
There are more than 400 hypotheses explaining its occurrence.
They always appear suddenly. Most of the scientists involved in their study have never seen the subject of research with their own eyes. Experts have been arguing for centuries, but have never reproduced this phenomenon in the lab. Nevertheless, no one puts it on a par with a UFO, Chupacabra or poltergeist. It's about ball lightning.
Scientists propose to concentrate efforts to search for a signal from extraterrestrial civilizations in the transit zone Scientists from Germany insist on narrowing the search area for potentially habitable planets. Rene Hellery and Ralph Pudritz spoke about this in an interview with Astrobiology magazine. According to them, there are currently several methods to search for exoplanets - planets that orbit other stars. The main one is the so-called transit method, the essence of which is that astronomers observe a decrease in the brightness of a star when a planet passes between an observer from the Earth and a star.
DOSSIER ON THE HELL BALL
As a rule, the appearance of ball lightning is associated with severe thunderstorms. The overwhelming majority of eyewitnesses describe the object as a ball with a volume of about 1 cubic meter. dm. However, if we analyze the testimonies of aircraft pilots, they often mention giant balls. Sometimes eyewitnesses describe a ribbon-like "tail" or even several "tentacles". The surface of the object most often glows uniformly, sometimes pulsing, but there are rare observations of dark ball lightning. Rarely, bright rays are mentioned erupting from the inside of the ball. The color of the glow of the surface is very different. Also, it can change over time.
Meeting with this mysterious phenomenon is very dangerous: many cases of burns and deaths from contact with ball lightning have been recorded.
VERSIONS: GAS DISCHARGE AND PLASMA BLOCK
Attempts to unravel the phenomenon have been made for a long time.
Back in the 18th century the outstanding French scientist Dominique Francois Arago published the first, very detailed work on ball lightning. In it, Arago summarized about 30 observations and thus laid the foundation for the scientific study of the phenomenon.
Of the hundreds of hypotheses, until recently, two seemed the most probable.
GAS DISCHARGE. In 1955, Petr Leonidovich Kapitsa presented a report "On the nature of ball lightning". In that work, he tries to explain the very birth of ball lightning, and many of its unusual features the occurrence of short-wave electromagnetic oscillations between thunderclouds and the earth's surface. The scientist believed that ball lightning is a gas discharge moving along lines of force standing electromagnetic
waves between clouds and earth. It does not sound very clear, but we are dealing with a very complex physical phenomenon. However, even such a genius as Kapitsa could not explain the nature of the short-wave oscillations that provoke the appearance of the "hellish ball". The assumption of the scientist formed the basis of a whole direction, which continues to develop to this day.
PLASMA CLOCK. According to the outstanding scientist Igor Stakhanov (he was called "a physicist who knows everything about ball lightning"), we are dealing with a bunch of ions. Stakhanov's theory agreed well with eyewitness accounts and explained both the shape of lightning and its ability to penetrate through holes, reassuming its original form. However, experiments to create a man-made bunch of ions were unsuccessful.
ANTIMATTER. The above hypotheses are quite working, and research is ongoing on their basis. However, it is worth giving examples of a more daring flight of thought. So, the American astronaut Jeffrey Shears Ashby suggested that ball lightning is born during annihilation (mutual destruction with the release of huge amount energy) of antimatter particles that enter the atmosphere from outer space.
CREATE LIGHTNING
To create ball lightning in the laboratory is an old and not yet fully realized dream of many scientists.
EXPERIENCES OF TESLA. The first attempts in this direction at the beginning of the 20th century were made by the brilliant Nikola Tesla. Unfortunately, there are no reliable descriptions of either the experiments themselves or the results obtained. In his working notes there is information that under certain conditions he managed to "ignite" a gas discharge, which looked like a luminous spherical ball. Tesla allegedly could hold these mysterious balls in his hands and even throw them around. However, Tesla's activity has always been shrouded in an eagle of mystery and riddles. So it is not possible to understand where the truth and fiction are in the story of hand-held fireballs.
WHITE CLOTS. In 2013, the US Air Force Academy (Colorado) managed to create bright balls by exposing a special solution to powerful electrical discharges. Strange objects were able to exist for almost half a second. The scientists cautiously chose to call them plasmoids rather than fireballs. But they expect that the experiment will bring them closer to the solution.
Plasmoid. Bright white ball only existed for half a second.
UNEXPECTED EXPLANATION
At the end of the XX century. appeared new method diagnostics and treatment - transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Its essence is that by exposing a part of the brain to a focused strong magnetic field, one can force nerve cells(neurons) react as if they received a signal through nervous system.
So you can cause hallucinations in the form of fiery disks. By shifting the point of influence on the brain, the disk can be made to move (as perceived by the subject). Austrian scientists Joseph Peer and Alexander Kendl suggested that powerful thunderstorms can occur for moments during thunderstorms. magnetic fields that provoke such visions. Yes, this is a unique combination of circumstances, but they rarely see ball lightning. Scientists note that there are more chances if a person is in a building, an airplane (statistics confirm this). The hypothesis can only explain part of the observations: encounters with lightning that ended in burns and deaths remain unsolved.
FIVE BRIGHT CASES
Messages about meetings with fireballs come constantly. In Ukraine, one of the latest took place last summer: such a "hellish ball" flew into the premises of the Dibrovsky village council in the Kirovohrad region. He did not touch people, but all the office equipment burned down. In science and popular science literature, a certain set of the most famous collisions of man and ball lightning has formed.
1638. During an autumn thunderstorm in the village of Widecombe Moor in England, a ball with a diameter of more than 2 m flew into the church. According to eyewitnesses, lightning broke pews, smashed windows and filled the church with sulfur-scented smoke. In the process, four people died. The “guilty ones” were soon found - they were declared two peasants who allowed themselves to be thrown into cards during a sermon.
1753. Georg Richman, a member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, conducts research on atmospheric electricity. Suddenly, a bluish-orange orb appears and hits the scientist in the face with a bang. The scientist is killed, his assistant is stunned. A small crimson spot was found on Richman's forehead, his camisole was burned, and his shoes were torn. The story is familiar to everyone who studied in the Soviet era: not a single physics textbook of that time could do without a description of Richmann's death.
1944. In Uppsala (Sweden), ball lightning passed through window glass(a hole with a diameter of about 5 cm remained at the penetration site). The phenomenon was observed not only by people who were on the spot: the system for tracking lightning discharges of the local university also worked.
1978. A group of Soviet climbers stopped for the night in the mountains. A bright yellow ball the size of a tennis ball suddenly appeared in the tightly buttoned tent. He, crackling, chaotically moved in space. One climber died from touching the ball. The rest received multiple burns. The case became known after publication in the journal "Technology - Youth". Now, not a single forum of UFO fans, the Dyatlov Pass, etc., can do without mentioning that story.
2012. Incredible luck: in Tibet, ball lightning falls into the field of view of spectrometers, with which Chinese scientists studied ordinary lightning. The devices managed to fix the glow with a length of 1.64 seconds. and get detailed spectra. Unlike the spectrum of ordinary lightning (nitrogen lines are present there), the spectrum of ball lightning contains many lines of iron, silicon and calcium - the main chemical elements soil. Some of the theories of the origin of ball lightning have received weighty arguments in their favor.
Mystery. This is how they depicted a meeting with ball lightning in the 19th century.
Ball lightning is a rare and little-studied phenomenon, but no less dangerous for that. The first mention of it dates back to the 2nd century BC, when the annals told about mysterious phenomena that took place in Rome. Similar precedents also occurred in the Middle Ages. AT modern world the study of the nature of the occurrence of ball lightning began in the 19th century, when D. Arago described this phenomenon. Since then, there have been many studies, but humanity still cannot unravel its secret, and therefore it is so afraid. We will try to figure out why ball lightning is dangerous, as well as how to protect yourself from it.
The specifics of the impact of ball lightning
Such a phenomenon is usually striking in its brightness. In this case, the color of lightning can be very different:
- dazzling white;
- blue-blue;
- black;
But the most common shades are:
- orange;
- red;
- yellow.
Ball lightning can appear both in good weather, for example, on a sunny July morning, and during a thunderstorm. Science does not fully know the nature of its occurrence, because it can manifest itself both in open space: inside the clouds, in the air, above the ground; so in enclosed spaces, including residential buildings, through the socket or glass window. The actual temperature of ball lightning is also unknown to scientists. According to their forecasts, it can fluctuate greatly: some experts believe that it is equal to 1000 ° C, while others think that it is a little more than 100 ° C. Lightning can abruptly change its direction in the process of movement. There are cases of the appearance of ball lightning simultaneously with the usual linear one. This relationship has not yet been accurately described, but this fact exists. This variability explains the difficulty in studying ball lightning. Many experts believed that such a phenomenon does not exist at all, but this is just some kind of optical illusion.
People who have encountered this effect say (and scientists echo them) that the phenomenon can be divided into 2 types:
- A red object descends from the sky. When it hits something, it explodes.
- It moves parallel to the earth's surface, power plants, transmission lines and even household appliances serve as a source of attraction for it.
The inhabitants, albeit unreliable, but the most informed source, so scientists often turn to them when studying this issue. Many people point out that it "hisses", and the duration of its glow ranges from fractions of a second to half a minute. For scientists, it is still a big mystery how ball lightning is formed, because we can observe it only at the final stage of its existence. Also of particular interest is its shape. That is why a number of hypotheses regarding this phenomenon are put forward.
Where does ball lightning come from
It is extremely difficult for scientists to describe the nature of its occurrence, since it is very difficult to capture it. It is not easy to take a photo of ball lightning, because this phenomenon sometimes lasts for a fraction of a second. Some witnesses claim to have seen a long glow. Sometimes it just quietly disappears, but there are times when it explodes and you can get a real ball lightning strike.
Many important points need to be explained:
- Creation conditions. After all, there is evidence indicating that it appeared not only in a thunderstorm, but also on an ordinary sunny day.
- The structure of matter. Ball lightning can pass through glass, walls, openings and at the same time restore its original shape.
- The nature of radiation. Whether energy is taken only from the surface or from the entire volume of the ball.
D. Arago, who was one of the first to become seriously interested in this issue, believed that this phenomenon arises due to the fact that nitrogen and oxygen interact with the release of energy. This hypothesis was developed by another scientist - Ya. Frenkel. He argued that the ball contains active gases formed as a result of this reaction. Based on this, we can say that the energy is located inside the object.
The physicist P. Kapitsa did not agree with this assumption. He believed that the reason for everything was the additional energy in the form of radio waves resulting from electromagnetic oscillations between the clouds and the earth during a thunderstorm. It accumulates and at some point begins to interact with a natural phenomenon. But this theory is also imperfect, because does not explain the appearance of ball lightning on sunny days.
Thanks to observations from the ground and air, the dimensions of existing spark charges are now well known. Their size ranges from 1 cm to 1 m or more. Most often, people have to deal with lightning with a diameter of 10-20 cm.
M. Yuman tried to repeat this process in the laboratory, but his experience failed. In order to find out the speed of ball lightning, its structure and features, it is necessary to regularly conduct experiments. However, since they are all very complex and costly, their implementation in practice is constantly delayed.
How to escape from ball lightning
Ball lightning poses a great danger to humans. As a result of contact with it, you will at best get off with a serious burn, and most often there are incidents with lethal outcome. Most importantly - do not twitch sharply and panic. If you do not know what to do, if there is a ball lightning nearby, then the simplest advice is not to run. She is very susceptible to various fluctuations in the air, so she will immediately follow you, and her speed is much higher.
It is necessary to try to get away from the path along which the object is moving, while it is strictly forbidden to turn your back on it. Stay as far away from all your gadgets as possible, and avoid contact with synthetic materials because they are very well electrified. If you are wearing such clothes, then it is better to just freeze and stay in place. Then there is a chance that the threat will simply pass by. If this could not be avoided, and the victim has burns, then you need to send him to a ventilated room, and then wrap him up warmly. It is necessary to try to help the victim by giving artificial respiration, if necessary. This will help to stabilize his condition a little. However, the first step is to contact ambulance. Now you know what to do when meeting with ball lightning.
It doesn’t matter if you encounter a phenomenon on the street or in an apartment, do not try to disturb its structure in any way (for example, by throwing something inside). By doing this, you can only harm yourself, since the probability of an explosion is greatly increased. How to escape from ball lightning in the house?
Immediately warn your loved ones or colleagues (if you are at work) about the existing threat. Also try to prevent panic. It is necessary to approach the window as carefully as possible and open the window. There is a good chance that the ball will just come out. At the same time, you need to be as collected as possible, not to hesitate, but also not to allow sudden movements.
Ball lightning not only easily passes through walls, but is also capable of completely destroying even a strong building. In order to prevent this, it is better to make sure that your home is safe in advance. We recommend that you read the article “Protecting your home from a direct lightning strike. Lightning protection: lightning rod, lightning rod, grounding device. It contains all the relevant security measures.
Places where fireballs happen
It is simply impossible to predict any specific place of appearance, so no one is protected from such a threat. There were cases when repeated appearances were recorded this effect in one area. Ball lightning in the city near Pskov was seen several times a year. But at the same time, the nature of its occurrence remained unknown. Scientists even tried to calculate it, but the destructive power was so great that all the instruments became unusable. There is a chronicle from other places confirming the danger of this phenomenon, for example, INCREDIBLE shots with ball lightning (5 videos):
The consequences can be dire. You already know what ball lightning looks like, so you can imagine the extent of its destructive effect. At best, it will take a long time to heal. It all depends on the degree of burns received and on the strength of the discharge. Hearing and vision are severely damaged. As mentioned earlier, the flash can be blindingly bright.
Naturally, this also negatively affects the cardiac and muscular systems. The main rule in such cases is to provide prompt and qualified assistance. This will help to save the victim not only life, but also a full-fledged physical state. Photos of eyewitnesses of ball lightning are amazing.
At the same time, history knows interesting cases when, after contact with such an object, people discovered unusual abilities in themselves, their illnesses disappeared. But these are exceptions and miracles, but in reality, if ball lightning hit a person, then he is in big trouble. The probability of receiving a dangerous electrical discharge remains not only while thunder rumbles, but also after. There is a video "Ball Lightning - unique eyewitness videos", in which people are amazed by the phenomenon, not being afraid to film what is happening. In this case, the usual radius is on average 10 km.
Ball lightning, the voltage of which is much higher than ordinary lightning, can permanently cripple life. Therefore, it is worth thinking about your safety right now. This will help you with products and services from the company "Alef-Em", where real professionals work who will take care of you. You need to think about ways to improve the protection of your apartment and not be afraid to face danger.
How to protect yourself from ball lightning with the help of the services we provide
Lightning rods from Alef-Em are reliable protection in emergency situations. It is enough to go to our website and choose the necessary products in order to protect yourself. Our sales consultants, who have extensive experience, will help you with this. You can talk with them on various topics related to the safety of your home, both during a thunderstorm and when ball lightning appears.
You already know how to behave if ball lightning has flown into the house. But using our services, you will be able to minimize, if not completely avoid this probability. The charges will be directed to the ground, such lightning rods have already been tested many times. The main evidence of their quality is not certificates at all, but grateful customer reviews.
Ball lightning can easily fly into a window, but this is ruled out thanks to our systems. They consist of the following parts:
- metal base;
- a device that is located on the roof of the building;
- cable acting as a connector.
It is not enough to know how to behave during ball lightning, you must always be prepared for the worst case scenario. Reliable lightning protection from Alef-M will help to avoid troubles from this natural phenomenon.
Having been working for about ten years, they managed to become real leaders in this market segment. We guarantee a result that will serve you for many years. The methods of our work can be found in the article "Traditional lightning protection of buildings: lightning rod (lightning rod)".
Prices in "Alef-M" are much lower than those of competitors, there is a flexible system of discounts and an individual approach to each client, which will allow you to save significantly.
We only work with reliable materials, because the safety of our customers comes first.
Our website has many useful materials, there you can read articles about ball lightning. Everyone risks meeting her, but it is important to be prepared and remain just an eyewitness. After watching a video about ball lightning, you can see how dangerous it is. Contact our company, where you are always welcome. Qualified staff will help and quickly make the apartment much safer. They will show a video about ball lightning in the house, point out the main mistakes and tell you how to behave in an emergency.
The company strives to become with its customers not just partners, but also true friends. Come to us and we will fulfill quality work as soon as possible.
We live in an interesting time - in the yard of the XXI century, high technologies are subject to man and are used everywhere and in scientific work, and at home. A recruitment of those wishing to settle on the Red Planet is being researched and produced. Meanwhile, today there are various mechanism which are still not studied. Such phenomena include ball lightning, which is of genuine interest to scientists around the world.
The first documented case of the appearance of ball lightning took place in 1638 in England, in one of the churches in Devon. As a result of the atrocities of a huge fireball, 4 people died, about 60 were injured. Subsequently, new reports of such phenomena periodically appeared, but there were few of them, since eyewitnesses considered ball lightning an illusion or an optical illusion.
The first generalization of cases of a unique natural phenomenon was made by the Frenchman F. Arago in the middle of the 19th century; about 30 testimonies were collected in his statistics. The growing number of such meetings made it possible to obtain, based on the descriptions of eyewitnesses, some of the characteristics inherent in the heavenly guest.
Ball lightning is a phenomenon of an electrical nature, moving in the air in an unpredictable direction, luminous, but not radiating heat. On this general properties the particulars characteristic of each of the cases end and begin.
This is due to the fact that the nature of ball lightning has not been fully understood, since so far it has not been possible to study this phenomenon in the laboratory or to recreate a model for study. In some cases, the diameter of the fireball was several centimeters, sometimes reaching half a meter.
Photos of ball lightning fascinate with their beauty, but the impression of a harmless optical illusion is deceptive - many eyewitnesses were injured and burned, some became victims. This happened to the physicist Richmann, whose work on experiments during a thunderstorm ended in tragedy.
For several hundred years, ball lightning has been the object of study by many scientists, including N. Tesla, G. I. Babat, B. Smirnov, I. P. Stakhanov and others. Scientists have put forward various theories of the occurrence of ball lightning, of which there are over 200.
According to one version, an electromagnetic wave formed between the earth and clouds reaches a critical amplitude at a certain moment and forms a spherical gas discharge.
Another version is that ball lightning consists of plasma high density and contains its own microwave radiation field. Some scientists believe that the fireball phenomenon is the result of the focusing of cosmic rays by clouds.
Most cases of this phenomenon were recorded before a thunderstorm and during a thunderstorm, so the most relevant hypothesis is the emergence of an energetically favorable environment for the appearance of various plasma formations, one of which is lightning.
The opinions of experts agree that when meeting with a heavenly guest, one must adhere to certain rules behavior. The main thing is not to make sudden movements, not to run away, try to minimize air vibrations.
As often happens, the systematic study of ball lightning began with a denial of their existence: in early XIX century, all isolated observations known by that time were recognized as either mysticism or, at best, an optical illusion.
But already in 1838, a survey compiled by the famous astronomer and physicist Dominique Francois Arago was published in the Yearbook of the French Bureau of Geographic Longitudes.
Subsequently, he initiated the experiments of Fizeau and Foucault to measure the speed of light, as well as the work that led Le Verrier to the discovery of Neptune.
Based on the then known descriptions of ball lightning, Arago came to the conclusion that many of these observations cannot be considered an illusion.
In the 137 years that have passed since the publication of Arago's review, new eyewitness accounts and photographs have appeared. Dozens of theories were created, extravagant and witty, which explained some of the known properties of ball lightning, and those that did not withstand elementary criticism.
Faraday, Kelvin, Arrhenius, Soviet physicists Ya. I. Frenkel and P. L. Kapitsa, many well-known chemists, and finally, specialists from the American National Commission for Astronautics and Aeronautics of NASA tried to investigate and explain this interesting and formidable phenomenon. And ball lightning still continues to be largely a mystery.
It is difficult, probably, to find a phenomenon, the information about which would be so contradictory to each other. There are two main reasons: this phenomenon is very rare, and many observations are carried out extremely unskilled.
Suffice it to say that large meteors and even birds were mistaken for ball lightning, to the wings of which the dust of rotten, glowing in the dark stumps stuck. Nevertheless, there are about a thousand reliable observations of ball lightning described in the literature.
What facts must link scientists with a single theory in order to explain the nature of the occurrence of ball lightning? What are the limitations of observation on our imagination?
The first thing to explain is: why does ball lightning occur frequently if it occurs frequently, or why does it occur rarely if it occurs rarely?
Let the reader not be surprised by this strange phrase - the frequency of occurrence of ball lightning is still a controversial issue.
And it is also necessary to explain why ball lightning (it is not for nothing that it is called that) really has a shape that is usually close to a ball.
And to prove that it, in general, is related to lightning - I must say, not all theories associate the appearance of this phenomenon with thunderstorms - and not without reason: sometimes it occurs in cloudless weather, as, however, other thunderstorm phenomena, for example, lights Saint Elmo.
Here it is appropriate to recall the description of the meeting with ball lightning, given by the remarkable observer of nature and scientist Vladimir Klavdievich Arsenyev, a well-known researcher of the Far Eastern taiga. This meeting took place in the Sikhote-Alin mountains on a clear day. moonlit night. Although many parameters of the lightning observed by Arseniev are typical, such cases are rare: ball lightning usually occurs during a thunderstorm.
In 1966, NASA circulated a questionnaire to 2,000 people, the first part of which asked two questions: "Have you seen ball lightning?" and “Have you seen a linear lightning strike in the immediate vicinity?”
The answers made it possible to compare the frequency of observation of ball lightning with the frequency of observation of ordinary lightning. The result was stunning: 409 out of 2,000 people saw a linear lightning strike close by, and two times less than ball lightning. There was even a lucky person who met ball lightning 8 once, again one circumstantial evidence that this is not at all such a rare occurrence as is commonly thought.
Analysis of the second part of the questionnaire confirmed many previously known facts: ball lightning has an average diameter of about 20 cm; does not glow very brightly; the color is most often red, orange, white.
Interestingly, even observers who saw ball lightning up close often did not feel its thermal radiation, although it burns when touched directly.
There is such lightning from a few seconds to a minute; can penetrate into the premises through small holes, then restoring its shape. Many observers report that it throws out some kind of sparks and rotates.
It usually hovers a short distance from the ground, although it has also been seen in the clouds. Sometimes ball lightning quietly disappears, but sometimes it explodes, causing noticeable destruction.
Already listed properties are enough to confuse the researcher.
What substance should ball lightning consist of, for example, if it does not fly up rapidly, like hot air balloon brothers Montgolfier, filled with smoke, although heated to at least a few hundred degrees?
With the temperature, too, not everything is clear: judging by the color of the glow, the lightning temperature is not less than 8,000 °K.
One of the observers, a chemist by profession familiar with plasma, estimated this temperature at 13,000-16,000°K! But the photometering of the lightning trace left on the film showed that the radiation comes out not only from its surface, but also from the entire volume.
Many observers also report that the lightning is translucent and the contours of objects appear through it. And this means that its temperature is much lower - no more than 5,000 degrees, since with greater heating, a layer of gas several centimeters thick is completely opaque and radiates like an absolutely black body.
The fact that ball lightning is rather "cold" is also evidenced by the relatively weak thermal effect produced by it.
Ball lightning carries a lot of energy. True, deliberately overestimated estimates are often found in the literature, but even a modest realistic figure - 105 joules - is very impressive for a lightning bolt with a diameter of 20 cm. If such energy were spent only on light radiation, it could glow for many hours.
During the explosion of ball lightning, a power of a million kilowatts can develop, since this explosion proceeds very quickly. Explosions, however, a person can arrange even more powerful ones, but if compared with “calm” energy sources, then the comparison will not be in their favor.
In particular, the energy intensity (energy per unit mass) of lightning is much higher than that of existing chemical batteries. By the way, it was the desire to learn how to accumulate relatively large energy in a small volume that attracted many researchers to the study of ball lightning. To what extent these hopes can be justified, it is too early to say.
The complexity of explaining such contradictory and diverse properties has led to the fact that the existing views on the nature of this phenomenon have exhausted, it seems, all conceivable possibilities.
Some scientists believe that lightning is constantly receiving energy from outside. For example, P. L. Kapitsa suggested that it occurs when a powerful beam of decimeter radio waves is absorbed, which can be emitted during a thunderstorm.
In reality, for the formation of an ionized bunch, which is ball lightning in this hypothesis, the existence of standing wave electromagnetic radiation with a very high field strength in the antinodes.
The necessary conditions can be realized very rarely, so, according to P. L. Kapitsa, the probability of observing ball lightning in a given place (that is, where the specialist observer is located) is practically equal to zero.
It is sometimes assumed that ball lightning is the luminous part of the channel connecting the cloud with the earth, through which a large current flows. Figuratively speaking, it is assigned the role of the only visible area for some reason invisible linear lightning. For the first time this hypothesis was expressed by the Americans M. Yuman and O. Finkelstein, and later several modifications of the theory developed by them appeared.
The common difficulty of all these theories is that they assume the existence of energy flows of extremely high density for a long time and it is precisely because of this that they doom ball lightning to the "position" of an extremely improbable phenomenon.
In addition, in the theory of Yuman and Finkelstein it is difficult to explain the shape of lightning and its observed dimensions - the diameter of the lightning channel is usually about 3-5 cm, and ball lightnings are also found in a meter diameter.
There are quite a few hypotheses suggesting that ball lightning itself is a source of energy. The most exotic mechanisms for extracting this energy have been devised.
As an example of such exoticism, one can cite the idea of D. Ashby and C. Whitehead, according to which ball lightning is formed during the annihilation of antimatter dust particles that enter the dense layers of the atmosphere from space and are then carried away by a linear lightning discharge to the earth.
This idea, perhaps, could be supported theoretically, but, unfortunately, so far not a single suitable antimatter particle has been discovered.
Most often, various chemical and even nuclear reactions are used as a hypothetical source of energy. But at the same time, it is difficult to explain the ball shape of lightning - if the reactions take place in a gaseous medium, then diffusion and wind will lead to the removal of "thunderstorm substance" (Arago's term) from a twenty-centimeter ball in a matter of seconds and deform it even earlier.
Finally, there is not a single reaction that is known to occur in air with the energy release necessary to explain ball lightning.
The following point of view has been repeatedly expressed: ball lightning accumulates the energy released during a linear lightning strike. There are also many theories based on this assumption, detailed overview they can be found in S. Singer's popular book The Nature of Ball Lightning.
These theories, as well as many others, contain difficulties and contradictions, which are given considerable attention in both serious and popular literature.
Cluster hypothesis of ball lightning
Now let's talk about a relatively new, so-called cluster hypothesis of ball lightning, developed in recent years by one of the authors of this article.
Let's start with the question, why is lightning shaped like a ball? AT general view the answer to this question is not difficult - there must be a force capable of holding together the particles of the "thunderstorm substance".
Why is a water drop spherical? This shape is given by surface tension.
The surface tension of a liquid arises from the fact that its particles - atoms or molecules - strongly interact with each other, much stronger than with the molecules of the surrounding gas.
Therefore, if the particle is near the interface, then a force begins to act on it, tending to return the molecule to the depth of the liquid.
The average kinetic energy of the particles of a liquid is approximately equal to the average energy of their interaction, and therefore the molecules of the liquid do not scatter. In gases, the kinetic energy of the particles exceeds the potential energy of interaction so much that the particles are practically free and there is no need to talk about surface tension.
But ball lightning is a gas-like body, and the “thunderstorm substance” nevertheless has surface tension - hence the shape of the ball, which it most often has. The only substance that could have such properties is plasma, an ionized gas.
Plasma consists of positive and negative ions and free electrons, that is, electrically charged particles. The energy of interaction between them is much greater than between the atoms of a neutral gas, respectively, and the surface tension is greater.
However, at relatively low temperatures - say, at 1,000 degrees Kelvin - and at normal atmospheric pressure, ball lightning from plasma could exist only for thousandths of a second, since ions quickly recombine, that is, turn into neutral atoms and molecules.
This contradicts observations - ball lightning lives longer. At high temperatures - 10-15 thousand degrees - the kinetic energy of the particles becomes too large, and ball lightning should simply fall apart. Therefore, researchers have to use potent means to "prolong the life" of ball lightning, to keep it for at least a few tens of seconds.
In particular, P. L. Kapitsa introduced into his model a powerful electromagnetic wave, capable of constantly generating new low-temperature plasma. Other researchers, who assume that the lightning plasma is hotter, had to figure out how to keep the ball from this plasma, that is, to solve a problem that has not yet been solved, although it is very important for many areas of physics and technology.
But what if we go the other way — we introduce into the model a mechanism that slows down the recombination of ions? Let's try to use water for this purpose. Water is a polar solvent. Its molecule can be roughly thought of as a rod, one end of which is positively charged and the other negatively charged.
Water is attached to positive ions with a negative end, and to negative ions - positive, forming a protective layer - a solvate shell. It can drastically slow down recombination. An ion together with a solvate shell is called a cluster.
So we have finally come to the main ideas of the cluster theory: when a linear lightning is discharged, almost complete ionization of the molecules that make up the air, including water molecules, occurs.
The formed ions begin to quickly recombine, this stage takes thousandths of a second. At some point, there are more neutral water molecules than the remaining ions, and the process of cluster formation begins.
It also lasts, apparently, a fraction of a second and ends with the formation of a "thunderstorm substance" - similar in its properties to plasma and consisting of ionized air and water molecules surrounded by solvate shells.
However, this is still only an idea, and it remains to be seen whether it can explain the numerous known properties of ball lightning. Recall the well-known saying that at least a hare stew needs a hare, and ask ourselves the question: can clusters form in the air? The answer is comforting: yes, they can.
The proof of this literally fell (was brought) from the sky. At the end of the 1960s, with the help of geophysical rockets, a detailed study of the lowest layer of the ionosphere, the D layer, located at an altitude of about 70 km, was carried out. It turned out that despite the fact that there is very little water at such a height, all ions in the D layer are surrounded by solvate shells consisting of several water molecules.
The cluster theory assumes that the temperature of ball lightning is less than 1000°K, so there is no strong thermal radiation from it. Electrons at this temperature easily "stick" to atoms, forming negative ions, and all the properties of "lightning matter" are determined by clusters.
In this case, the density of the lightning substance turns out to be approximately equal to the density of air under normal atmospheric conditions, that is, lightning can be somewhat heavier than air and go down, it can be somewhat lighter than air and rise, and, finally, it can be in a suspended state if the density of the “lightning substance” and air are equal.
All these cases have been observed in nature. By the way, the fact that the lightning goes down does not mean that it will fall to the ground - warming up the air under it, it can create an air cushion that keeps it suspended. Obviously, therefore, hovering is the most common type of ball lightning movement.
Clusters interact with each other much stronger than atoms of a neutral gas. Estimates have shown that the resulting surface tension is quite sufficient to give the lightning a spherical shape.
The density tolerance decreases rapidly with increasing lightning radius. Since the probability of an exact match between the density of air and the lightning substance is small, large lightning bolts - more than a meter in diameter - are extremely rare, while small ones should appear more often.
But lightning smaller than three centimeters is also practically not observed. Why? To answer this question, it is necessary to consider the energy balance of ball lightning, to find out where energy is stored in it, how much of it and what it is spent on. The energy of ball lightning is contained, naturally, in clusters. The recombination of negative and positive clusters releases energy from 2 to 10 electron volts.
Plasma usually loses quite a lot of energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation - its appearance is due to the fact that light electrons, moving in the field of ions, acquire very large accelerations.
The substance of lightning consists of heavy particles, it is not so easy to accelerate them, therefore the electromagnetic field is emitted weakly and most of the energy is removed from the lightning by the heat flux from its surface.
The heat flow is proportional to the surface area of ball lightning, and the energy storage is proportional to the volume. Therefore, small lightnings quickly lose their relatively small reserves of energy, and although they appear much more often than large ones, it is more difficult to notice them: they live too short.
So, lightning with a diameter of 1 cm cools down in 0.25 seconds, and with a diameter of 20 cm in 100 seconds. This last figure roughly coincides with the maximum observed lifetime of ball lightning, but significantly exceeds its average lifetime of several seconds.
The most real mechanism of "dying" of a large lightning is associated with the loss of stability of its boundary. During the recombination of a pair of clusters, a dozen light particles are formed, which at the same temperature leads to a decrease in the density of the “thunderstorm substance” and a violation of the conditions for the existence of lightning long before its energy is exhausted.
Surface instability begins to develop, lightning throws out pieces of its substance and, as it were, jumps from side to side. The ejected pieces cool almost instantly, like small lightning bolts, and the fragmented large lightning ends its existence.
But another mechanism for its decay is also possible. If for some reason the heat removal worsens, the lightning will start to heat up. In this case, the number of clusters with a small number of water molecules in the shell will increase, they will recombine faster, further increase temperature. The end result is an explosion.
Why ball lightning glows
What facts must link scientists with a single theory in order to explain the nature of ball lightning?
During the recombination of clusters, the released heat is rapidly distributed among colder molecules.
But at some point, the temperature of the "volume" near the recombined particles can exceed the average temperature of the lightning substance by more than 10 times.
This "volume" glows like a gas heated to 10,000-15,000 degrees. There are relatively few such "hot spots", so the substance of ball lightning remains translucent.
It is clear that, from the point of view of the cluster theory, ball lightning can appear frequently. Only a few grams of water is needed to form lightning with a diameter of 20 cm, and during a thunderstorm there is usually plenty of it. Water is most often dispersed in the air, but in extreme cases, ball lightning can "find" it for itself on the surface of the earth.
By the way, since electrons are very mobile, during the formation of lightning, some of them may be “lost”, ball lightning as a whole will be charged (positively), and its movement will be determined by the distribution of the electric field.
Residual electric charge allows explaining such interesting properties of ball lightning as its ability to move against the wind, be attracted to objects and hang over high places.
The color of ball lightning is determined not only by the energy of the solvate shells and the temperature of the hot "volumes", but also chemical composition her substances. It is known that if, when a linear lightning strikes a copper wires ball lightning appears, it is often colored blue or green color are the usual "colors" of copper ions.
It is quite possible that excited metal atoms can also form clusters. The appearance of such "metal" clusters could explain some experiments with electric discharges, as a result of which luminous balls appeared, similar to ball lightning.
From what has been said, one may get the impression that, thanks to the cluster theory, the problem of ball lightning has finally received its final solution. But it is not so.
Despite the fact that behind the cluster theory there are calculations, hydrodynamic calculations of stability, with its help it was possible, apparently, to understand many properties of ball lightning, it would be a mistake to say that the riddle of ball lightning no longer exists.
In confirmation of one stroke, one detail. In his story, V. K. Arseniev mentions a thin tail stretching from ball lightning. While we can not explain either the cause of its occurrence, or even what it is ...
As already mentioned, about a thousand reliable observations of ball lightning are described in the literature. This is, of course, not very much. It is obvious that each new observation, if carefully analyzed, makes it possible to obtain interesting information about the properties of ball lightning and helps in verifying the validity of one theory or another.
Therefore, it is very important that as many observations as possible become the property of researchers and that the observers themselves actively participate in the study of ball lightning. This is precisely what the Ball Lightning experiment is aimed at, which will be discussed later.
One of the most amazing and hazardous phenomena nature is ball lightning. How to behave and what to do when meeting with her, you will learn from this article.
What is ball lightning
Surprisingly, but modern science finds it difficult to answer this question. Unfortunately, no one has been able to analyze this yet. a natural phenomenon using precise scientific instruments. All attempts by scientists to recreate it in the laboratory have also failed. Despite a lot of historical data and eyewitness accounts, some researchers even deny the very existence of this phenomenon.
Those who were lucky enough to stay alive after meeting with an electric ball, give conflicting testimonies. They claim to have seen a sphere 10 to 20 cm in diameter, but describe it differently. According to one version, ball lightning is almost transparent, the contours of surrounding objects can even be guessed through it. According to another, its color varies from white to red. Someone says that they felt the heat emanating from the lightning. Others did not notice any warmth from her, even being in close proximity.
Chinese scientists were lucky to detect ball lightning using spectrometers. Although this moment lasted one and a half seconds, the researchers were able to conclude that it was different from ordinary lightning.
Where does ball lightning appear?
How to behave when meeting with her, because a fireball can appear anywhere. The circumstances of its formation are very different and it is difficult to find a definite pattern. Most people think that you can only meet lightning during or after a thunderstorm. However, there is a lot of evidence that it also appeared in dry, cloudless weather. It is also impossible to predict the place where an electric ball may form. There were cases when it arose from a voltage network, a tree trunk, and even from a wall of an apartment building. Eyewitnesses saw how lightning appeared on its own, met it on open area and indoors. Also, the literature describes cases when, after a normal strike, ball lightning occurred.
How to behave
If you are "lucky enough" to encounter a fireball in an open area, you must adhere to the basic rules of behavior in this extreme situation.
- Try to slowly move away from the dangerous place for a considerable distance. Don't turn your back on the lightning and don't try to run away from it.
- If she is close and moving towards you, freeze, stretch your arms forward and hold your breath. After a few seconds or minutes, the ball will circle around you and disappear.
- In no case do not throw any objects at it, as if it collides with something, the lightning explodes.
Ball lightning: how to escape if it appeared in the house?
This plot is the most terrible, since an unprepared person can panic and make a fatal mistake. Remember that the electric sphere reacts to any movement of air. Therefore, the most universal advice It consists in the recommendation to remain still and calm. What else can be done if ball lightning has flown into the apartment?
- What to do if she was near your face? Blow on the ball and it will fly off to the side.
- Do not touch iron objects.
- Freeze, do not make sudden movements and do not try to escape.
- If there is an entrance to an adjacent room nearby, then try to hide in it. But do not turn your back on the lightning and try to move as slowly as possible.
- Do not try to drive it away with any object, otherwise you risk provoking a strong explosion. In this case, you face such serious consequences as cardiac arrest, burns, injuries and loss of consciousness.
How to help the victim
Remember that lightning can cause very serious injury or even take life. If you see that a person is injured by her blow, then urgently take action - move him to another place and do not be afraid, since there will no longer be a charge in his body. Put him on the floor, wrap him up and call an ambulance. In case of cardiac arrest, give him artificial respiration until the arrival of doctors. If the person was not badly hurt, put a wet towel on his head, give two analgin tablets and soothing drops.
How to save yourself
How to protect yourself from ball lightning? First of all, you need to take steps that will keep you safe during a normal thunderstorm. Remember that in most cases people suffer from electric shock while in nature or in the countryside.
- How to escape from ball lightning in the forest? Don't hide under lonely trees. Try to find a low grove or undergrowth. Remember that lightning rarely strikes coniferous trees and birch.
- Do not hold metal objects (forks, shovels, guns, fishing rods and umbrellas) above your head.
- Do not hide in a haystack and do not lie down on the ground - better squat down.
- If a thunderstorm caught you in the car, stop and do not touch metal objects. Don't forget to lower your antenna and drive away from tall trees. Stop at the curb and do not enter the gas station.
- Remember that quite often a thunderstorm goes against the wind. Ball lightning moves in exactly the same way.
- How to behave in the house and should you worry if you are under a roof? Unfortunately, a lightning rod and other devices are not able to help you.
- If you are in the steppe, then squat down, try not to rise above the surrounding objects. You can take cover in a ditch, but leave it as soon as it starts to fill with water.
- If you are sailing in a boat, then in no case do not get up. Try to get to the shore as quickly as possible and move away from the water to a safe distance.
- Take off your jewelry and put it away.
- Turn off your cell phone. If it works, then ball lightning can be attracted to the signal.
- How to escape from a thunderstorm if you are in the country? Close windows and chimney. It is not yet known whether glass is a barrier to lightning. However, it has been observed that it easily seeps into any slots, sockets or electrical appliances.
- If you are at home, then close the windows and turn off electrical appliances, do not touch anything metal. Try to stay away from outlets. Do not make phone calls and turn off all external antennas.
