# Auroras & Light Bulbs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2001, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auroras-light-bulbs/91871 "2001-11-06T21:51:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auroras-light-bulbs/91871/1 "2001-11-06T21:51:20Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auroras-light-bulbs/91871/2 "2001-11-06T23:12:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*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. ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2001, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auroras-light-bulbs/91871/3 "2001-11-06T23:17:43Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2001, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auroras-light-bulbs/91871/4 "2001-11-07T05:42:51Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2001, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auroras-light-bulbs/91871/5 "2001-11-07T13:12:19Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* \*\*…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 ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2001, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auroras-light-bulbs/91871/6 "2001-11-07T13:15:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*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