> Which phenomenon was once seen on ship masts and church steeples, and now isoccasionally seen on the tips of airplane wings?And the answer: St. Elmo’s fire. Named after the patron saint of sailors, St. Elmo's fire is a weather phenomenonin which luminous plasma is created on the pointed tip of a ship or plane. Itoccurs primarily during thunderstorms, or other conditions that create aslightly more electrified atmosphere.St. Elmo's fire appears during thunderstorms, when the ground below the storm iselectrically charged. If there's high voltage in the air between the cloud andthe ground, the voltage tears apart the air molecules and the gas begins toglow. It takes about 30,000 volts per cubic centimeter to start a St. Elmo'sfire (although sharp points like ship masts can trigger it at somewhat lowervoltage levels).Interestingly, this continuous electric spark is one we see frequently in ourdaily lives. The composition of St. Elmo’s fire is almost exactly the same asthe charge found inside fluorescent tubes, mercury vapor streetlights, oldorange-display calculators, and in "eye of the storm" plasma globes. The color of this phenomena depends on the gas content of our atmosphere.Because our air is comprised of nitrogen and oxygen, it glows blue and violet inhigh voltage fields. If we lived on a planet of neon gas, St. Elmo's fire wouldappear red/orange. Learn more about this rare phenomena here[https://www.livescience.com/st-elmos-fire.html].