During thunderstorms, electric discharges in the air cause trees to glow with an ultraviolet aura. You can't see it with your eyes, but researchers have finally managed to measure it & recreate it in the lab.
https://news.agu.org/press-release/thunderstorms-conjure-ghostly-coronae-in-treetops-observed-outdoors-for-the-first-time/ #science #nature
Some people seek out rare birds or chase storms. Patrick McFarland modified a Toyota minivan so he could track down the subtle electric "corona" that shines around trees, potentially shaping the ecology of forests.
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GL119591 #science #nature #ecology
If humans had ultraviolet vision, "I believe you’d see this swath of glow on the top of every tree under the thunderstorm. It’d probably look like a pretty cool light show, as if thousands of UV-flashing fireflies descended on the treetops."
-- Patrick McFarland
Reminds me of reading about the work of Robert O. Becker, back in the day.
Cool!
Appears the emissions were iUVC at 260 nm wavelength. Bumblebees can see some in the middle of UVA (347 nm).
“Coronae moved sporadically among leaves on every tree branch in a narrow field of view while the thunderstorm was directly overhead. Coronae emitted ∼1011 photons at 260 nm, corresponding to electrical currents of ∼1 μA, derived from unique measurements relating corona intensity to tree electrical current.”
@Extelec @coreyspowell
I try to understand if they are talking about something significantly different to "St. Elmos Fire" that is a visible strong corona discharge known since many centuries
Espically becasue they never refer to this phenomen
@coreyspowell
Finally, a technology from the back pages of Popular Mechanics makes it to the big time.
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