Storm Sparks UV Glows on Tree Tips Confirmed in the Wild
TL;DR Summary
A Penn State–led team captured the first in-the-wild coronae—brief ultraviolet glows at leaf tips—during thunderstorms, logging 41 events on multiple tree species across the East Coast in about 90 minutes. Each glow lasts roughly three seconds and can hop between leaves. While coronae had been seen in laboratory tests, this study confirms they occur in nature and may light tens to hundreds of treetop leaves during a single storm, though the displays are invisible to the naked eye.
- Trees Fire Off Ultraviolet Sparkles During Thunderstorms, Scientists Confirm Gizmodo
- See how thunderstorms create ghostly UV sparks on the tips of trees Scientific American
- Thunderstorms conjure ghostly coronae in treetops, observed outdoors for the first time AGU Newsroom
- Leaf tips glow blue in thunderstorms Popular Science
- “We've Seen Them; We Know They Exist": Scientists Confirm Elusive Electrical Phenomenon That Evaded Scientists for a Century The Debrief
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