St. Elmo’s Fire is an electrical weather phenomenon in which visible plasma is created by a coronal discharge originating from a grounded object in an atmospheric electric field (such as those generated by thunderstorms).

St. Elmo’s fire is named after Erasmus of Formiae (also called St. Elmo), the patron saint of sailors (who sometimes held its appearance to be auspicious). Alternatively, Peter Gonzalez is said to be the St. Elmo after whom St. Elmo’s fire has its name.

Saint Elmo’s fire, luminous discharge of electricity extending into the atmosphere from some projecting or elevated object. It is usually observed (often during a snowstorm or a dust storm) as brushlike fiery jets extending from the tips of a ship’s mast or spar, a wing, propeller, or other part of an aircraft, a steeple, a mountain top, or even from blades of grass or horns of cattle. Sometimes it plays about the head of a person, causing a tingling sensation. The phenomenon occurs when the atmosphere becomes charged and an electrical potential strong enough to cause a discharge is created between an object and the air around it. The amount of electricity involved is not great enough to be dangerous. The appearance of St. Elmo’s fire is regarded as a portent of bad weather. The phenomenon, also known as corposant, was long regarded with superstitious awe.

loll, try google…its wat i did:)

It’s the name given to a round flash of light that is seen around ships in a thunderstorm. The flash of light gets it’s name from the fact that it really does look like fire. It’s actually a charge of electricity caused by the storm. In stormy weather it can be seen around airplanes, the masts of ships, at church steeples tops and at tree tops. It may also be seen around horses’ manes and peoples’ heads. The name Saint Elmo is a shorter form of the name Saint Erasmus, who was considered the patron Saint of Mediterranean sailors.

St. Elmo’s Fire is in fact plasma or the electric field around the object in question causes ionization of the air molecules, producing a faint glow easily visible in low-light conditions. Approximately 1,000 – 30,000 volts per centimeter is required to induce St. Elmo’s Fire; however, this number is greatly dependant on the geometry of the object in question. Sharp points tend to require lower voltage levels to produce the same result because electric fields are more concentrated in areas of high curvature, thus discharges are more intense at the end of pointed object.

The nitrogen and oxygen in earth’s atmosphere causes St. Elmo’s Fire to fluoresce with blue or violet light; this is similar to the mechanism that causes neon lights to glow.

St. Elmo’s fire is a static electricity discharge. It is like rubbing the fur on a cat and being able to hold a balloon without your fingers.

It’s the traditional name for the luminous electrical discharge seen in heavy storms, usually appearing on projecting objects: steeples, aircraft wings, etc…

So named by sailors who saw it on ships’ mastheads; named for their patron saint, St. Elmo.

The intestinal Fortitude to go on, even though life is doing everything in it’s power to stop you.

It was also a 1985 movie starring Emilio Estevez and Ally Sheedy. : )