St. Elmo's Fire

: For the 1985 Brat Pack movie, see St. Elmo's Fire (movie).

Related Topics:
1985 - Brat Pack - St. Elmo's Fire (movie)

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St. Elmo's Fire is an electro-luminescent corona discharge caused by the ionization of the air during thunderstorms inside of a strong electric field. Although referred to as "fire", St. Elmo's Fire is in fact a low density, relatively low temperature plasma caused by massive atmospheric electrical potential differences which exceed the dielectric breakdown value of air at around 3 megavolts per meter.

Related Topics:
Electro - Luminescent - Corona discharge - Ion - Air - Thunderstorm - Electric field - Plasma - Atmospheric - Potential difference - Dielectric breakdown

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