Plasmaglobe experiment II

[Mikael_Joe]

Hi again.

I've bought a new large plasma globe since my previous post about plasmaglobes. I had it running for 2 months straight without ever turning it off and then something happened.

You may remember that in my previous post i wound the powercable around the bottom of the glasssphere and found it changed the globes.
However this one changed all by its own just by being on all the time, so i'm starting to wonder if it's the electrical system in my home that's causing this.

The first month the new globe looked like any other one, with many many small filaments dancing around and going into arc mode when you touched it. However it's nowhere near like that anymore.


It looks very very pretty.

40mb quicktime.
http://www.coolcat.dk/images/Plasma/2011_02_16/MVI_9246.mov

This is my old large plasma globe, this one had its powercord wound around the base of the glass and ran like that for a couple of weeks. Only a few filaments reach out to touch the glass and there's also a blue glow at the edge of the glass sphere.

62mb quicktime.
http://www.coolcat.dk/images/Plasma/2011_02_16/MVI_9250.mov

This is my small globe, the first one that started all this by having its powercord wound around it. It starts out with a bright blue glow with filaments but then it changes into something different.

50mb quicktime.
http://www.coolcat.dk/images/Plasma/2011_02_16/MVI_9251.mov

Small globe again, here i'm just touching it with a finger at opposite sides. Reminds me of this:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hinode/xrt_feb1_110208_prt.htm

79mb quicktime.
http://www.coolcat.dk/images/Plasma/2011_02_16/MVI_9253.mov

Here all 3 globes are put together. The large globe on the left is going a big crazy. I think there was a tiny gap between it and the small globe which caused it to spark like that. Fun to see how all 3 reacts to it.

53mb quicktime.
http://www.coolcat.dk/images/Plasma/2011_02_16/MVI_9254.mov

Again all 3 globes. First i pull the powerplug from the left large globe and then the right large globe. Very interesting that the plasma stays in the large globes with their power turned off. Towards the end of the movie i plug them both in again

106mb quicktime.
http://www.coolcat.dk/images/Plasma/2011_02_16/MVI_9257.mov

All 3 globes again. I just wanted to show here that they are plasma within the large globes and they shut off if i touch the small globe too much. I briefly plug in the power and pull it out again to reactive the plasmas.

66mb quicktime.
http://www.coolcat.dk/images/Plasma/2011_02_16/MVI_9258.mov

[Sparky]

this is an ordinary light bulb hooked up to high voltage source..

info at http://tacashi.tripod.com/elctrncs/splglobe/splglobe.htm

[allynh]

In the Tripod link Sparky had, there is an ad to a place that makes large plasma globes.

Museum Sized 22" Tall Plasma Globe - Red Plasma Effect - 15" Diameter Ball | Specialty Toys Direct
http://www.st-amz.com/Museum-Sized-22-T ... gwodjzANaw

I wonder what would happen if they could build an orrery with a few small plasma globes inside a large plasma globe. What would happen to the globes within. That would be a model of the Solar System where Saturn, Jupiter, etc..., are within the Sun's Heliosphere.

Look at the page Sparky linked to.
http://tacashi.tripod.com/elctrncs/ssstc/ssstc.htm

As a Civil Engineer I know just enough about electricity to get myself killed, but the circuit he shows looks intriguing.

Can a bell jar have enough of a vacuum, and be wired up to high voltage to make a plasma jar with plasma globes inside.

I think at this point you might hook up with Donald Scott and the EU team. I have never understood why they haven't built some version of Birkeland's terrella to continue his work.

Terrella
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrella

Terrellas had been used up until the late 20th century to attempt to simulate the Earth's magnetosphere, but have now been replaced by computer simulation.

Maybe it is time to go back to actual Terrella instead of computer models.

[Mikael_Joe]

In the Tripod link Sparky had, there is an ad to a place that makes large plasma globes.

Museum Sized 22" Tall Plasma Globe - Red Plasma Effect - 15" Diameter Ball | Specialty Toys Direct
http://www.st-amz.com/Museum-Sized-22-T ... gwodjzANaw

Thanks for that link. They have the manual for their globes in a PDF. I looked at it and found this.

The pressure of the gas mixture plays a large part in determining the shape of the plasma effect. In general, the higher the pressure of the gas, the thinner and more sharp the plasma arcs will be. The lower the pressure, the wider and softer the arcs will be. When the pressure is low enough, a unique effect becomes possible
at reduced power levels, somewhat like a glowing aurora borealis around the electrode core.

Explains what happened to my globes. But are they leaking then?!

Also, maybe we should send that manual to NASA just for this:

Plasma globes got their name because they really do contain “plasma.” Plasma is often referred to as the “fourth state of matter.” It is the most common state of matter in the universe—the stars themselves are made of it. Plasma occurs when a gas becomes electrically charged (or “ionized”) and the electrons begin to break off from the atoms and move around freely. Unlike a typical gas, plasma is electrically conductive and responds strongly to the effects of electromagnetic fields. Applying an electromagnetic field to plasma can cause it to form into structures such as filaments, beams, and double layers. These structures are what give shape to the moving tendrils of light that you see in the plasma globe.

[allynh]

I wonder if the reason the globe that was on for two months, and started glowing throughout, is because most of the gas is now ionized.

If people only turn their globes on now and then, the gas may lose all of it's charge. The globe you left on full time may have reached a saturation point and that's why it is glowing constantly.

That would explain why in MVI_9257.mov the gas continues to glow from the shared charge even when the power goes off.

In MVI_9258.mov when the globe stops glowing where you touch, is because the ionized gas loses it's charge where your fingers are, breaking the circuit. The one that was saturated keeps it's glow longer. The way it bursts to life with the circuit restored shows that.

I wish I had the resources to build a Terrella, changing the various parameters: gas, preasure, etc..., and more important, having different kinds of cameras to film the plasma in as many different frequencies possible: infrared, ultraviolet, x-ray, radio.

Ahh..., to have access to my own mad scientist lab. All I did after reading your post was to turn on my plasma globe and plasma disk, and cackle and laugh for a few minutes. Sigh....

[Mikael_Joe]

I've had it off for several days and when i plug it in it jumps right back into that type i showed in the first clip. Doubt it can hold it's charge after being off for so long. The same with my other globes.

My USB globe however hasn't changed one bit and it has been running for months. Yes i like plasma And yeah i have to 2 plasma disks as well

[Mikael_Joe]

Made this electro magnet. Couldn't find a metal ring to use so i had to look deeper and found some metal i could use inside a coathanger. I wound copper around it 3 times, took quite a long time to do, hours. Hooked it up to 4 x C 1.5v batteries.

It worked as the batteries got very hot but when tested next to a compass the needle only moved slightly, so the field was weak




However it still managed to affect the plasma. But the plasma on the inner sphere was unaffected when i turned the power on and off to the coil.

The coil managed to make a funnel from the innersphere to the glass sphere. Also a ring formed at the the innersphere while at the center it sorta looks like an aurora at the surface with the increased intensity there.

122mb quicktime.
http://www.coolcat.dk/images/Plasma/2011_02_27/MVI_9288.mov


Side view. The funnel is much more visible here. Notice green plasma appears near the coil at the top as well.

131mb quicktime.
http://www.coolcat.dk/images/Plasma/2011_02_27/MVI_9291.mov


Here i've put it on my other globe. The coil affected this one too. Tho the funnel is made of filaments now there are new disturbances appearing in the filaments. You have to view the video to see them. I've never seen disturbances like that in a plasma globe before. They seem to sometimes to be moving from the top then halfwaydown before going up again.

175mb quicktime.
http://www.coolcat.dk/images/Plasma/2011_02_27/MVI_9294.mov


A closer view of the green globe. The ring and "aurora" are there again. I wonder if this is how cloudbelts on jupiter are created. Would be interesting if i had 2 coils and placed them at opposite sides. The bottom half looks similar to the sun surface with all that granulation. Just not as dense.

130mb quicktime.
http://www.coolcat.dk/images/Plasma/2011_02_27/MVI_9299.mov


Another view of the green plasma. The ring and "aurora" again appears in this shot.

105mb quicktime.
http://www.coolcat.dk/images/Plasma/2011_02_27/MVI_9302.mov

[mharratsc]

MikaelJoe's image:




How about "A small stellar model, complete with anode tufts and diffuse plasmasphere?"

[Sparky]

Some experiments:

If you have a large screen crt tv, try setting globe near the screen..there will probably be an interaction between the HV of tv and globe.

if you can find a speaker to tear apart, the magnet is a strong one.
you don't need to use an electromagnet...

[Osmosis]

See if you can find a cow magnet. If you have access to a feed store, they will have them for a few dollars. No batteries needed!

[Mikael_Joe]

Found a speaker and stripped away the frame. But the shielding is very tough, not sure if i can remove it.

[davesmith_au]

If you have a disused computer hard drive, bust it apart! They have a couple of very strong magnets in them. The're only maybe 1/16th of an inch thick, about half an inch wide and maybe an inch and a half long, and curved. Very very strong for their size...

Cheers, Dave.

[Sparky]

Look at this!...Is this a "plasma globe"?

http://www.astronomycafe.net/qadir/q435.html

[Osmosis]

A wireless one

[mharratsc]

Is not wireless... is plugged in to da Sun!