Auroras & Light Bulbs?

[Jinx]

Our fluorescent light started glowing by itself last night. My wife and I know it was off, but there's a smidge of uncertainty if the on-button was slightly depressed (which can cause the bulb to half-illuminate.) However, the button would be hard to hit without knowing it...

Silly as this sounds, I brought some fluorescent bulbs outside last night, but no luck. Maybe the magnet storm's intensity lessened? Also, the bulbs were in a thin cellophane sleeve...maybe I'll try again tonight - unwrapped (the bulbs, not me, silly! )

Anyone have any experience with such phenomena? I know such bulbs can glow on their own under certain conditions...
- Jinx

[Mangetout]

Originally posted by Jinx
Our fluorescent light started glowing by itself last night. My wife and I know it was off, but there's a smidge of uncertainty if the on-button was slightly depressed (which can cause the bulb to half-illuminate.

Dunno about the rest of your question, but unless the switch is a particular type of dimmer switch specially designed to work with fluorescent lamps (I believe there is such a thing available), it's unlikely that a half-on switch would cause the tube to glow.
I've seen a half-on switch cause an incandescent bulb to glow at less than full brightness, but this was accompanied by a crackling noise from the switch and eventually smoke and.

[bare]

I don't know the answer to your question either but I doubt it. If such were the case, I'd think there would be a lot of folks with disconnected lights kept for the purpose of aurora detection.

[Chronos]

Well, the Aurora itself couldn't cause this, unless what you were actually seeing was just a reflection in the shiny glass. If that's the case, then turn around and look at the real thing

Now, the magnetic storms that cause the aurorae can, in fact, induce currents, with notable results. This is how the Quebec power system got knocked out back in 1990: Storm-induced currents overloaded the grid. On the other hand, to get an effect like that, you need a really big "antenna", like, say, the power grid of an entire province. If your switch really is turned off, then your bulb will have an effective antenna size of a few meters or so, max, so I don't think that that could be the cause. If you really want, though, I'll ask some of the aurora experts around here what they think.

[Jinx]

[quote]Originally posted by Mangetout
[b]...unless the switch is a particular type of dimmer switch specially designed to work with fluorescent lamps (I believe there is such a thing available), it's unlikely that a half-on switch would cause the tube to glow....

Maybe I should clarify this was a fluorescent desk lamp. Without trying, it is easy to make a desk lamp half-lit, but it will usually flicker. This was not flickering, just a steady (ghostly) glow.
- Jinx

[Jinx]

Originally posted by Chronos
Well, the Aurora itself couldn't cause this...now, the magnetic storms that cause the aurorae can...If you really want, though, I'll ask some of the aurora experts around here what they think.

Chronos, please ask around for me if you can. I should add this was a desk lamp with one fluorescent bulb. It had a glow to it. If half-lit (such as if I had bumped the on-switch, it would glow, or light at half strength, but with a noticeable flickering.

There was no flickering, just a ghostly white glow.
Maybe it was my magnetic personality?
- Jinx