American researchers say they have developed a more effective way to produce a ball lightning in the lab.
The Colorado team generated a bright plasma cloud from a specially prepared solution and maintained it for nearly half a second.
In nature, the ball lightning is seen floating on land or on buildings, and even bouncing off the aisle of an airplane.
But its rarity makes learning and understanding very difficult.
The research team at the American Air Force Academy hopes that this new research method will help science better understand this strange phenomenon.
Dr. Mike Lindsay, who led the study published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry, said: "ball lightning is almost commonly used to describe the phenomena described by normal lightning that occurs in nature, something like "fire of San Elmo" or Aurora.
It is likely that this is not one thing, but a few things with similar observables.
"According to some reports, famous physicist and inventor Nicolas Tesla was able to make ball lightning in his lab when he lived in Colorado Springs for 1899/1900 years.
But if he did create it, he did not describe his method in a way that would allow anyone to copy his work. Eye-
Witness reports of ball lightning vary greatly in the size, duration, and movement of the ball.
Lightning research engineer and science broadcaster Rhys Phillips said: "Lightning is still not the word we are talking about here, at least for me.
We know that lightning is a very fast discharge from one point to the other.
Cloud to Earth, for example-(
There is no denying through a complex process)
And in [observation]the current]
This is not described in the paper.
Dr. Lindsay did not agree with the assessment.
In this paper, he and his colleagues described previous studies that produced what they call the "glow discharge" of the plasma "(a charged gas)
Above the electrolyte solution.
A new experiment
Use these early methods, but then manipulate the conditions to keep the ball going as long as possible.
"I don't think what we're creating is lightning, although the initial stage of the discharge that produces this" plasma "has many similarities to lightning," explains Dr. Lindsay.
They're just arcs-
In this case, the arc on the surface of the electrolyte solution.
What then happens is that this plasma appears from it.
"So I agree [going by]
General definition of Lightning-
No, it's not the same. "Using high-
The researchers found that changing the acidity of the electrolyte solution can lead to more persistent balls.
This is beneficial because the longer the sphere lasts, the longer the team will investigate their properties.
In addition to cameras, scientists have used other imaging techniques to observe infrared images.
The red contours of the balls, and how their density and structure change over time.
The results show that there is water vapor and carbon dioxide in the ball, and some others
But the identity is unknown.
Despite the recognition of the faculty's researchers, how representative their creations are, there is also a "pending question," which, in their view, only extends the life of the sphere, and open it to more detailed research before it is possible to find more convincing answers.
"I need to be honest: we are not sure if this is the same as the ball lightning," said Dr. Lindsay . ".
"It has many similarities and is clearly not similar to well-known phenomena such as fire or beads lightning in San Elmo, which are well known and understood in nature.
"Our research shows that there is still room to extend life and we are reaching these conditions further.
"We need to buy more equipment to get to these areas," he told BBC News . ".