The ghostly glow that clings to ship masts
Sailors used to think glowing blue masts meant divine intervention, but God had nothing to do with it. St. Elmo's fire is merely a luminous corona discharge. The atmospheric electrical field during a storm gets so intense it rips electrons right off gas molecules, turning the air around pointy ship parts into a sizzling, ghostly plasma.

Keep exploring facts in this topic.
Science →



