Science, Tech, Math Science Lightning and Plasma Photo Gallery Share Flipboard Email Print Science Chemistry Basics Chemical Laws Molecules Periodic Table Projects & Experiments Scientific Method Biochemistry Physical Chemistry Medical Chemistry Chemistry in Everyday Life Famous Chemists Activities for Kids Abbreviations & Acronyms Biology Physics Geology Astronomy Weather & Climate by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D. Dr. Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences and is a science writer, educator, and consultant. She has taught science courses at the high school, college, and graduate levels. Updated March 06, 2017 01 of 36 Lightning Photograph The electrical discharge of lightning exists in the form of plasma. Charles Allison, Oklahoma Lightning The Fourth State of MatterThis is a photo gallery of lightning and plasma pictures. One way to think of plasma is as an ionized gas or as the fourth state of matter. The electrons in plasma are not bound to protons, so charged particles in plasma are highly responsive to electromagnetic fields.Examples of plasma include stellar gas clouds and stars, lightning, the ionosphere (which includes auroras), the interiors of fluorescent and neon lamps and some flames. 02 of 36 Plasma Lamp A plasma lamp is a familiar example of plasma. Luc Viatour 03 of 36 X-Ray Sun This is a view of the sun from the Soft X-Ray Telescope (SXT) on the Yohkoh satellite. The looping structures consist of hot plasma bound by magnetic field lines. Sunspots would be found at the base of these loops. NASA Goddard Laboratory 04 of 36 Electric Discharge This is an electric discharge around a glass plate. Matthias Zepper 05 of 36 Tycho's Supernova Remnant This is a false-color x-ray image of Tycho's Supernova Remnant. The red and green bands are an expanding cloud of superhot plasma. The blue band is a shell of extremely high energy electrons. NASA 06 of 36 Lightning from a Thunderstorm This is lightning associated with a thunderstorm near Oradea, Romania (August 17, 2005). Mircea Madau 07 of 36 Plasma Arc The Wimshurst Machine, invented in the early 1880s, is popular for demonstrating plasma. Matthew Dingemans 08 of 36 Hall Effect Thruster This is a photo of a Hall Effect thruster (ion drive) in operation. The electric field of the plasma double layer accelerates the ions. Dstaack, Wikipedia Commons 09 of 36 Neon Sign This neon filled discharge tube displays the element's characteristic reddish-orange emission. The ionized gas inside the tube is plasma. pslawinski, wikipedia.org 10 of 36 Earth's Magnetosphere This is an image of the magnetic tail of Earth's plasmasphere, which is a region of the magnetosphere that is distorted by pressure from the solar wind. The photo was taken by the Extreme Ultraviolet imager instrument onboard the IMAGE satellite. NASA 11 of 36 Lightning Animation This is an example of cloud-cloud lightning over Tolouse, France. Sebastien D'Arco 12 of 36 Aurora Borealis Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, above Bear Lake, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The colors of the aurora derive from the emission spectra of ionized gases in the atmosphere. United States Air Force photo by Senior Airman Joshua Strang 13 of 36 Solar Plasma Image of the sun's chromosphere taken by Hinode's Solar Optical Telescope on Jan. 12, 2007, revealing the filamentary nature of solar plasma following magnetic field lines. Hinode JAXA/NASA 14 of 36 Solar Filaments The SOHO spacecraft took this image of solar filaments, which are massive bubbles of magnetic plasma that are ejected into space. NASA 15 of 36 Volcano with Lightning 1982 eruption of Galunggung, Indonesia, accompanied by lightning strikes. USGS 16 of 36 Volcano with Lightning This is a photograph of the 1995 volcanic eruption of Mount Rinjani in Indonesia. Volcanic eruptions are frequently accompanied by lightning. Oliver Spalt 17 of 36 Aurora Australis This is a photo of the aurora australis in Antarctica. Samuel Blanc 18 of 36 Plasma Filaments Plasma filaments from the electrical discharge of a Tesla coil. This photo was taken at the UK Teslathon in Derby, UK, on 27 May 2005. Ian Tresman 19 of 36 Catseye Nebula X-ray/optical composite image of NGC6543, the Cat's Eye Nebula. The red is hydrogen-alpha; blue, neutral oxygen; green, ionized nitrogen. NASA/ESA 20 of 36 Omega Nebula Hubble photograph of M17, also known as the Omega Nebula. NASA/ESA 21 of 36 Aurora on Jupiter Jupiter aurora viewed in ultraviolet by the Hubble Space Telescope. The bright steaks are magnetic flux tubes that connect Jupiter to its moons. The dots are the largest moons. John T. Clarke (U. Michigan), ESA, NASA 22 of 36 Aurora Australis Aurora Australis over Wellington, New Zealand approximately 3am on 24 November 2001. Paul Moss 23 of 36 Lightning over a Cemetary Lightning over Miramare di Rimini, Italy. The colors of lightning, usually violet and blue, reflect the emission spectra of the ionized gases in the atmosphere. Magica, Wikipedia Commons 24 of 36 Lightning over Boston This black and white photo is of a lightning storm over Boston, circa 1967. Boston Globe/NOAA 25 of 36 Lightning Strikes Eiffel Tower Lightning striking the Eiffel Tower, June 3, 1902, at 9:20 pm. This is one of the earliest photos of lightning in an urban setting. Historic NWS Collection, NOAA 26 of 36 Boomerang Nebula Image of the Boomerang Nebula taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA 27 of 36 Crab Nebula The Crab Nebula is an expanding remnant of a supernova explosion that was observed in 1054. This image was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA 28 of 36 Horsehead Nebula This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of the Horsehead Nebula. NASA, NOAO, ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team 29 of 36 Red Rectangle Nebula The Red Rectangle Nebula is an example of a protoplanetary nebula and a bipolar nebula. NASA JPL 30 of 36 Pleiades Cluster This photo of the Pleiades (M45, the Seven Sisters, Matariki, or Subaru) clearly shows its reflection nebulae. NASA 31 of 36 Pillars of Creation The Pillars of Creation are regions of star formation within the Eagle Nebula. NASA/ESA/Hubble 32 of 36 Mercury UV Lamp The glow from this mercury germicidal UV lamp comes from ionized low pressure mercury vapor, an example of plasma. Deglr6328, Wikipedia Commons 33 of 36 Tesla Coil Lightning Simulator This is a Tesla coil lightning simulator at Questacon in Canberra, Australia. The electrical discharge is an example of plasma. Fir0002, Wikipedia Commons 34 of 36 Eye of God Helix Nebula This is a color composite image of the Helix Nebula from data obtained at the La Silla observatory in Chile. The blue-green glow comes from oxygen exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation. The red is from hydrogen and nitrogen. ESO 35 of 36 Hubble Helix Nebula "Eye of God" or Helix Nebula composite photograph taken from Hubble Space Telescope. ESA/NASA 36 of 36 Crab Nebula Composite photograph from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA/NASA Hubble Space Telescope of the Crab Pulsar at the center of the Crab Nebula. NASA/CXC/ASU/J. Hester et al., HST/ASU/J. Hester et al. Continue Reading