Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge (spark) accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms. From this discharge of atmospheric electricity, a leader of a bolt of lightning can travel at speeds of , and can reach temperatures approaching , hot enough to fuse silica sand into glass channels known as fulgurites which are normally hollow and can extend some distance into the ground. There are some 16 million lightning storms in the world every year. Lightning causes ionisation in the air through which it travels, leading to the formation of nitric oxide and ultimately, nitric acid, of benefit to plant life below.

Lightning can also occur within the ash clouds from volcanic eruptions, or can be caused by violent forest fires which generate sufficient dust to create a static charge.

How lightning initially forms is still a matter of debate: Scientists have studied root causes ranging from atmospheric perturbations (wind, humidity, friction, and atmospheric pressure) to the impact of solar wind and accumulation of charged solar particles. Ice inside a cloud is thought to be a key element in lightning development, and may cause a forcible separation of positive and negative charges within the cloud, thus assisting in the formation of lightning.

The irrational fear of lightning (and thunder) is astraphobia. The study or science of lightning is called fulminology, and someone who studies lightning is referred to as a fulminologist.

History of lightning research

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) endeavored to test the theory that sparks shared some similarity with lightning by using a spire which was being erected in Philadelphia, United States. While waiting for completion of the spire, he got the idea to use a flying object such as a kite. During the next thunderstorm, which was in June 1752, it was reported that he raised a kite. He was accompanied by his son as an assistant. On his end of the string he attached a key, and he tied it to a post with a silk thread. As time passed, Franklin noticed the loose fibers on the string stretching out; he then brought his hand close to the key and a spark jumped the gap. The rain which had fallen during the storm had soaked the line and made it conductive.

Franklin was not the first to perform the kite experiment. Thomas-François Dalibard and De Lors conducted it at Marly-la-Ville in France, a few weeks before Franklin's experiment. In his autobiography (written 1771–1788, first published 1790), Franklin clearly states that he performed this experiment after those in France, which occurred weeks before his own experiment, without his prior knowledge as of 1752.

As news of the experiment and its particulars spread, others attempted to replicate it. However, experiments involving lightning are always risky and frequently fatal. One of the most well-known deaths during the spate of Franklin imitators was that of Professor Georg Richmann of Saint Petersburg, Russia. He created a set-up similar to Franklin's, and was attending a meeting of the Academy of Sciences when he heard thunder. He ran home with his engraver to capture the event for posterity. According to reports, while the experiment was under way, ball lightning appeared and collided with Richmann's head, killing him.

Although experiments from the time of Benjamin Franklin showed that lightning was a discharge of static electricity, there was little improvement in theoretical understanding of lightning (in particular how it was generated) for more than 150 years. The impetus for new research came from the field of power engineering: as power transmission lines came into service, engineers needed to know much more about lightning in order to adequately protect lines and equipment. In 1900, Nikola Tesla generated artificial lightning by using a large Tesla coil, enabling the generation of enormously high voltages sufficient to create lightning.

Properties

Lightning can occur with both positive and negative polarity. An average bolt of negative lightning carries an electric current of 30,000 amperes (30 kA), and transfers fifteen coulombs of electric charge and 500 megajoules of energy. Large bolts of lightning can carry up to 120 kA and 350 coulombs. An average bolt of positive lightning carries an electric current of about 300 kA — about 10 times that of negative lightning.

The voltage involved for both is proportional to the length of the bolt. However, lightning leader development is not just a matter of the electrical breakdown of air, which occurs at a voltage gradient of about 3 megavolts per metre (MV/m). The ambient electric fields required for lightning leader propagation can be one or two orders of magnitude (10⁻²) less than the electrical breakdown strength. The potential ("voltage") gradient inside a well-developed return-stroke channel is on the order of hundreds of volts per metre (V/m) due to intense channel ionization, resulting in a true power output on the order of one megawatt per meter (MW/m) for a vigorous return stroke current of 100 kA. The average ''peak'' power output of a single lightning stroke is about one trillion watts — one terawatt (10¹² W), and the stroke lasts for about 30 millionths of a second — 30 microseconds.

Lightning rapidly heats the air in its immediate vicinity to about 20,000 °C (36,000 °F) — about three times the temperature of the surface of the Sun. The sudden heating effect and the expansion of heated air gives rise to a supersonic shock wave in the surrounding clear air. It is this shock wave, once it decays to an acoustic wave, that is heard as thunder.

The return stroke of a lightning bolt follows a charge channel about a centimetre (0.4 in) wide.

Different locations have different potentials and currents for an average lightning strike. In the United States, for example, Florida experiences the largest number of recorded strikes in a given period during the summer season , has very sandy soils in some areas, and electrically conductive water-saturated soils in others. As much of Florida lies on a peninsula, it is bordered by the ocean on three sides. The result is the daily development of sea and lake breeze boundaries that collide and produce thunderstorms.

NASA scientists have found that electromagnetic radiation created by lightning in clouds only a few miles high can create a safe zone in the Van Allen radiation belts that surround the earth. This zone, known as the "Van Allen Belt slot", may be a safe haven for satellites in middle Earth orbits (MEOs), protecting them from the Sun's intense radiation.

Formation

Positive lightning (a rarer form of lightning that originates from positively charged regions of the thundercloud) does not generally fit the preceding pattern.

Cloud particle collision hypothesis

According to this cloud particle charging hypothesis, charges are separated when ice crystals rebound off graupel. Charge separation appears to require strong updrafts which carry water droplets upward, supercooling them to between -10 and -40 °C. These water droplets collide with ice crystals to form a soft ice-water mixture called graupel. Collisions between ice crystals and graupel pellets usually results in positive charge being transferred to the ice crystals, and negative charge to the graupel. Updrafts drive the less heavy ice crystals upwards, causing the cloud top to accumulate increasing positive charge. Gravity causes the heavier negatively charged graupel to fall toward the middle and lower portions of the cloud, building up an increasing negative charge. Charge separation and accumulation continue until the electrical potential becomes sufficient to initiate a lightning discharge, which occurs when the distribution of positive and negative charges forms a sufficiently strong electric field.

Polarization mechanism hypothesis

The mechanism by which charge separation happens is still the subject of research. Another hypothesis is the polarization mechanism, which has two components:

# Falling droplets of ice and rain become electrically polarized as they fall through the Earth's natural electric field; # Colliding/rebounding cloud particles become oppositely charged.

There are several hypotheses for the origin of charge separation.

Lightning initiation

Even assuming an electric field has been established, the mechanism by which the lightning discharge begins is not well known. Electric field measurements in thunderclouds are typically not large enough to directly initiate a discharge. Many hypotheses have been proposed, ranging from including runaway breakdown to locally enhanced electric fields near elongated water droplets or ice crystals. Percolation theory, especially for the case of biased percolation, describe random connectivity phenomena, which produce an evolution of connected structures similar to that of lightning strikes.

Leader formation and the return stroke

[[Image:Leaderlightnig.gif|thumb|left|Illustration of a negative streamer (blue) meeting a positive counterpart (red) and the return stroke. Click to watch the animation.]]

As a thundercloud moves over the surface of the Earth, an electric charge equal to but opposite the charge of the base of the thundercloud is induced in the Earth below the cloud. The induced ground charge follows the movement of the cloud, remaining underneath it.

An initial bipolar discharge, or path of ionized air, starts from a negatively charged region of mixed water and ice in the thundercloud. Discharge ionized channels are known as ''leaders''. The positive and negative charged leaders, generally a "stepped leader", proceed in opposite directions. The negatively-charged one proceeds downward in a number of quick jumps (steps). 90 percent of the leaders exceed 45 m (148 ft) in length, with most in the order of 50 to 100 m (164 to 492 feet). As it continues to descend, the stepped leader may branch into a number of paths. The progression of stepped leaders takes a comparatively long time (hundreds of milliseconds) to approach the ground. This initial phase involves a relatively small electric current (tens or hundreds of amperes), and the leader is almost invisible when compared with the subsequent lightning channel.

When a stepped leader approaches the ground, the presence of opposite charges on the ground enhances the strength of the electric field. The electric field is strongest on ground-connected objects whose tops are closest to the base of the thundercloud, such as trees and tall buildings. If the electric field is strong enough, a conductive discharge (called a positive streamer) can develop from these points. This was first theorized by Heinz Kasemir. As the field increases, the positive streamer may evolve into a hotter, higher current leader which eventually connects to the descending stepped leader from the cloud. It is also possible for many streamers to develop from many different objects simultaneously, with only one connecting with the leader and forming the main discharge path. Photographs have been taken on which non-connected streamers are clearly visible.

Once a channel of ionized air is established between the cloud and ground this becomes a ''path of least resistance'' and allows for a much greater current to propagate from the Earth back up the leader into the cloud. This is the ''return stroke'' and it is the most luminous and noticeable part of the lightning discharge.

Discharge

When the electric field becomes strong enough, an electrical discharge (the bolt of lightning) occurs within clouds or between clouds and the ground. During the strike, successive portions of air become a conductive discharge channel as the electrons and positive ions of air molecules are pulled away from each other and forced to flow in opposite directions.

The electrical discharge rapidly superheats the discharge channel, causing the air to expand rapidly and produce a shock wave heard as thunder. The rolling and gradually dissipating rumble of thunder is caused by the time delay of sound coming from different portions of a long stroke.

Re-strike

thumb|left|Lightning is a highly visible form of energy transfer.High speed videos (examined frame-by-frame) show that most lightning strikes are made up of multiple individual strokes. A typical strike is made of 3 or 4 strokes, though there may be more.

Each re-strike is separated by a relatively large amount of time, typically 40 to 50 milliseconds. Re-strikes can cause a noticeable "strobe light" effect.

Each successive stroke is preceded by intermediate dart leader strokes akin to, but weaker than, the initial stepped leader. The stroke usually re-uses the discharge channel taken by the previous stroke.

The variations in successive discharges are the result of smaller regions of charge within the cloud being depleted by successive strokes.

The sound of thunder from a lightning strike is prolonged by successive strokes.

Types

Some lightning strikes exhibit particular characteristics; scientists and the general public have given names to these various types of lightning. The lightning that is most-commonly observed is streak lightning. This is nothing more than the return stroke, the visible part of the lightning stroke. The majority of strokes occur inside a cloud so we do not see most of the individual return strokes during a thunderstorm.

Cloud-to-ground lightning

This is the best known and second most common type of lightning. Of all the different types of lightning, it poses the greatest threat to life and property since it strikes the ground. Cloud-to-ground lightning is a lightning discharge between a cumulonimbus cloud and the ground. It is initiated by a leader stroke moving down from the cloud.

Bead lightning

Bead lightning is a type of cloud-to-ground lightning which appears to break up into a string of short, bright sections, which last longer than the usual discharge channel. It is relatively rare. Several theories have been proposed to explain it; one is that the observer sees portions of the lightning channel end on, and that these portions appear especially bright. Another is that, in bead lightning, the width of the lightning channel varies; as the lightning channel cools and fades, the wider sections cool more slowly and remain visible longer, appearing as a ''string of beads''.

Ribbon lightning

Ribbon lightning occurs in thunderstorms with high cross winds and multiple return strokes. The wind will blow each successive return stroke slightly to one side of the previous return stroke, causing a ribbon effect.

Staccato lightning

Staccato lightning is a cloud to ground lightning strike which is a short-duration stroke that appears as a single very bright flash and often has considerable branching.

Forked lightning

Forked lightning is a name, not in formal usage, for cloud-to-ground lightning that exhibits branching of its path.

Ground-to-cloud lightning

Ground-to-cloud lightning is a lightning discharge between the ground and a cumulonimbus cloud initiated by an upward-moving leader stroke. This type of lightning forms when negatively charged ions called the stepped leader rise up from the ground and meet the positively charged ions in a cumulonimbus cloud. Then the strike goes back to the ground as the return stroke. This is also called positive lightning.

Cloud-to-cloud lightning

Lightning discharges may occur between areas of cloud without contacting the ground. When it occurs between two separate clouds it is known as ''inter-cloud lightning'', and when it occurs between areas of differing electric potential within a single cloud it is known as ''intra-cloud lightning''. Intra-cloud lightning is the most frequently occurring type.

These are most common between the upper anvil portion and lower reaches of a given thunderstorm. This lightning can sometimes be observed at great distances at night as so-called "heat lightning". In such instances, the observer may see only a flash of light without hearing any thunder. The "heat" portion of the term is a folk association between locally experienced warmth and the distant lightning flashes.

Another terminology used for cloud–cloud or cloud–cloud–ground lightning is "Anvil Crawler", due to the habit of the charge typically originating from beneath or within the anvil and scrambling through the upper cloud layers of a thunderstorm, normally generating multiple branch strokes which are dramatic to witnesses. These are usually seen as a thunderstorm passes over the observer or begins to decay. The most vivid crawler behavior occurs in well developed thunderstorms that feature extensive rear anvil shearing.

Sheet lightning

Sheet lightning is an informally applied name to cloud-to-cloud lightning that exhibits a diffuse brightening of the surface of a cloud caused by the actual discharge path being hidden. This term can also be applied when the lightning itself cannot be seen by the spectator, so it appears as only a flash, or a sheet of light.

Heat lightning

Heat lightning is a common name for a lightning flash that appears to produce no thunder because it occurs too far away for the thunder to be heard. The sound waves dissipate before they reach the observer.

Dry lightning

''Dry lightning'' is a term in Canada and the United States for lightning that occurs with no precipitation at the surface. This type of lightning is the most common natural cause of wildfires. Pyrocumulus clouds produce lightning for the same reason that it is produced by cumulonimbus clouds. When the higher levels of the atmosphere are cooler, and the surface is warmed to extreme temperatures due to a wildfire, volcano, etc., convection will occur, and the convection produces lightning. Therefore, fire can beget dry lightning through the development of more dry thunderstorms which cause more fires (see positive feedback).

Rocket lightning

It is a form of cloud discharge, generally horizontal and at cloud base, with a luminous channel appearing to advance through the air with visually resolvable speed, often intermittently.

Positive lightning

Unlike the far more common "negative" lightning, positive lightning occurs when a positive charge is carried by the top of the clouds (generally anvil clouds) rather than the ground. Generally, this causes the leader arc to form in the anvil of the cumulonimbus and travel horizontally for several miles before veering down to meet the negatively charged streamer rising from the ground. The bolt can strike anywhere within several miles of the anvil of the thunderstorm, often in areas experiencing clear or only slightly cloudy skies; they are also known as "bolts from the blue" for this reason. Positive lightning makes up less than 5% of all lightning strikes. Because of the much greater distance they must travel before discharging, positive lightning strikes typically carry six to ten times the charge and voltage difference of a negative bolt and last around ten times longer. During a positive lightning strike, huge quantities of ELF and VLF radio waves are generated.

As a result of their greater power, as well as lack of warning, positive lightning strikes are considerably more dangerous. At the present time, aircraft are not designed to withstand such strikes, since their existence was unknown at the time standards were set, and the dangers unappreciated until the destruction of a glider in 1999. The standard in force at the time of the crash, Advisory Circular AC 20-53A, was replaced by Advisory Circular AC 20-53B in 2006, however it is unclear whether adequate protection against positive lighting was incorporated.

Positive lightning is also now believed to have been responsible for the 1963 in-flight explosion and subsequent crash of Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707. Due to the dangers of lightning, aircraft operating in U.S. airspace have been required to have lightning discharge wicks to reduce the damage by a lightning strike, but these measures may be insufficient for positive lightning.

Positive lightning has also been shown to trigger the occurrence of upper atmosphere lightning. It tends to occur more frequently in winter storms, as with thundersnow, and at the end of a thunderstorm.

Ball lightning

Ball lightning may be an atmospheric electrical phenomenon, the physical nature of which is still controversial. The term refers to reports of luminous, usually spherical objects which vary from pea-sized to several metres in diameter. It is sometimes associated with thunderstorms, but unlike lightning flashes, which last only a fraction of a second, ball lightning reportedly lasts many seconds. Ball lightning has been described by eyewitnesses but rarely recorded by meteorologists. Scientific data on natural ball lightning is scarce owing to its infrequency and unpredictability. The presumption of its existence is based on reported public sightings, and has therefore produced somewhat inconsistent findings.

Laboratory experiments have produced effects that are visually similar to reports of ball lightning, but at present, it is unknown whether these are actually related to any naturally occurring phenomenon. One theory is that ball lightning may be created when lightning strikes silicon in soil, a phenomenon which has been duplicated in laboratory testing. Given inconsistencies and the lack of reliable data and completely contradicting and unpredictable behavior, the true nature of ball lightning is still unknown and was often regarded as a fantasy or a hoax. Reports of the phenomenon were dismissed for lack of physical evidence, and were often regarded the same way as UFO sightings. Severely contradicting descriptions of ball lightning makes it impossible even to create plausible hypothesis that will take into account described behavior.

One theory that may account for this wider spectrum of observational evidence is the idea of combustion inside the low-velocity region of spherical vortex breakdown of a natural vortex (e.g., the 'Hill's spherical vortex'). Natural ball lightning appears infrequently and unpredictably, and is therefore rarely (if ever truly) photographed. However, several purported photos and videos exist. Perhaps the most famous story of ball lightning unfolded when 18th-century physicist Georg Wilhelm Richmann installed a lightning rod in his home and was struck in the head - and killed - by a "pale blue ball of fire."

Upper-atmospheric lightning

Reports by scientists of strange lightning phenomena about storms date back to at least 1886. However, it is only in recent years that fuller investigations have been made. This has sometimes been called megalightning.

Sprites

Sprites are large-scale electrical discharges that occur high above a thunderstorm cloud, or cumulonimbus, giving rise to a quite varied range of visual shapes. They are triggered by the discharges of positive lightning between the thundercloud and the ground. The phenomena were named after the mischievous sprite (air spirit) Puck in Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. They normally are coloured reddish-orange or greenish-blue, with hanging tendrils below and arcing branches above their location, and can be preceded by a reddish halo. They often occur in clusters, lying to above the Earth's surface. Sprites were first photographed on July 6, 1989 by scientists from the University of Minnesota and have since been witnessed tens of thousands of times. Sprites have been mentioned as a possible cause in otherwise unexplained accidents involving high altitude vehicular operations above thunderstorms.

Blue jets

Blue jets differ from sprites in that they project from the top of the cumulonimbus above a thunderstorm, typically in a narrow cone, to the lowest levels of the ionosphere to above the earth. They are also brighter than sprites and, as implied by their name, are blue in colour. They were first recorded on October 21, 1989, on a video taken from the space shuttle as it passed over Australia, and subsequently extensively documented in 1994 during aircraft research flights by the University of Alaska.

On September 14, 2001, scientists at the Arecibo Observatory photographed a huge jet double the height of those previously observed, reaching around into the atmosphere. The jet was located above a thunderstorm over the ocean, and lasted under a second. Lightning was initially observed traveling up at around 50,000 m/s in a similar way to a typical ''blue jet'', but then divided in two and sped at 250,000 m/s to the ionosphere, where they spread out in a bright burst of light. On July 22, 2002, five gigantic jets between 60 and 70 km (35 to 45 miles) in length were observed over the South China Sea from Taiwan, reported in ''Nature''. The jets lasted under a second, with shapes likened by the researchers to giant trees and carrots.

Elves

Elves often appear as dim, flattened, circular in the horizontal plane, expanding glows around in diameter that last for, typically, just one millisecond. They occur in the ionosphere above the ground over thunderstorms. Their color was a puzzle for some time, but is now believed to be a red hue. Elves were first recorded on another shuttle mission, this time recorded off French Guiana on October 7, 1990. Elves is an acronym for Emissions of Light and Very Low Frequency Perturbations from Electromagnetic Pulse Sources. This refers to the process by which the light is generated; the excitation of nitrogen molecules due to electron collisions (the electrons possibly having been energized by the electromagnetic pulse caused by a discharge from the Ionosphere).

Triggered lightning

Rocket-triggered

Lightning has been triggered by launching lightning rockets carrying spools of wire into thunderstorms. The wire unwinds as the rocket ascends, providing a path for lightning. These bolts are typically very straight due to the path created by the wire.

Lightning has also been triggered directly by other human activities: Flying aircraft can trigger lightning. Furthermore, lightning struck Apollo 12 soon after takeoff, and has struck soon after thermonuclear explosions.

Volcanically triggered

There are three types of volcanic lightning:

Extremely large volcanic eruptions, which eject gases and material high into the atmosphere, can trigger lightning. This phenomenon was documented by Pliny The Elder during the 79 CE eruption of Vesuvius, in which he perished. An intermediate type which comes from a volcano's vents, sometimes long. Small spark-type lightning about long lasting a few milliseconds.

Laser-triggered

Since the 1970s, researchers have attempted to trigger lightning strikes by means of infrared or ultraviolet lasers, which create a channel of ionized gas through which the lightning would be conducted to ground. Such triggering of lightning is intended to protect rocket launching pads, electric power facilities, and other sensitive targets.

In New Mexico, U.S., scientists tested a new terawatt laser which provoked lightning. Scientists fired ultra-fast pulses from an extremely powerful laser thus sending several terawatts into the clouds to call down electrical discharges in storm clouds over the region. The laser beams sent from the laser make channels of ionized molecules known as "filaments". Before the lightning strikes earth, the filaments lead electricity through the clouds, playing the role of lightning rods. Researchers generated filaments that lived too short a period to trigger a real lightning strike. Nevertheless, a boost in electrical activity within the clouds was registered. According to the French and German scientists, who ran the experiment, the fast pulses sent from the laser will be able to provoke lightning strikes on demand. Statistical analysis showed that their laser pulses indeed enhanced the electrical activity in the thundercloud where it was aimed—in effect they generated small local discharges located at the position of the plasma channels.

Extraterrestrial lightning

Lightning requires the electrical breakdown of a gas, so it cannot exist in a visual form in the vacuum of space. However, lightning has been observed within the atmospheres of other planets, such as Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. Lightning on Venus is still a controversial subject after decades of study. During the Soviet Venera and U.S. Pioneer missions of the 1970s and '80s, signals suggesting lightning may be present in the upper atmosphere were detected. However, recently the Cassini–Huygens mission fly-by of Venus detected no signs of lightning at all. Despite this, it has been suggested that radio pulses recorded by the spacecraft Venus Express may originate from lightning on Venus.

Trees and lightning

Trees are frequent conductors of lightning to the ground. Since sap is a poor conductor, its electrical resistance causes it to be heated explosively into steam, which blows off the bark outside the lightning's path. In following seasons trees overgrow the damaged area and may cover it completely, leaving only a vertical scar. If the damage is severe, the tree may not be able to recover, and decay sets in, eventually killing the tree. In sparsely populated areas such as the Far East and Siberia, lightning strikes are one of the major causes of forest fires. The smoke and mist expelled by a forest fire can cause electric charges, multiplying the intensity of a forest fire. It is commonly thought that a tree standing alone is more frequently struck, though in some forested areas, lightning scars can be seen on almost every tree.

The two most frequently struck tree types are the oak and the elm. Pine trees are also quite often hit by lightning. Unlike the oak, which has a relatively shallow root structure, pine trees have a deep central root system that goes down into the water table. Pine trees usually stand taller than other species, which also makes them a likely target. Factors which lead to its being targeted are a high resin content, loftiness, and its needles which lend themselves to a high electrical discharge during a thunderstorm.

Trees are natural lightning conductors and are known to provide protection against lightning damage to nearby buildings. Tall trees with high biomass for the root system provide good lightning protection. An example is the teak tree (''Tectona grandis''). When planted near a building, its height helps to capture the oncoming lightning leader, and the high biomass of the root system helps in dissipation of the lightnings charge.

Lightning currents have a very fast risetime, on the order of 40 kA per microsecond. Hence, conductors of such currents exhibit marked skin effect, causing most of the currents to flow through the conductor skin.

On 30 August 2011 a bolt of lightning hit a tree at a Tamworth, New South Wales high school injuring a teacher and 10 students. The injured students and teacher were taken to hospital, with only the teacher held for further treatment. Flash burns were received by the students. At the time of the strike there was a clear sky followed shortly after by hail and rain.

Fulgurites

Lightning strikes on sandy soil can produce fulgurites. These root-shaped tubes of melted and fused sand grains are sometimes called ''petrified lightning''.

High energy radiation emissions due to lightning

The production of X-rays by a bolt of lightning was theoretically predicted as early as 1925 but no evidence was found until 2001/2002, when researchers at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology detected X-ray emissions from an induced lightning strike along a wire trailed behind a rocket shot into a storm cloud. In the same year University of Florida and Florida Tech researchers used an array of electric field and X-ray detectors at a lightning research facility in North Florida to confirm that natural lightning makes X-rays in large quantities. The cause of the X-ray emissions is still a matter for research, as the temperature of lightning is too low to account for the X-rays observed.

Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes

A number of observations by space-based telescopes have revealed even higher energy gamma ray emissions, the so-called terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs). These observations pose a challenge to current theories of lightning, especially with the discovery of the clear signatures of antimatter produced in lightning.

It has been discovered in the past 15 years that among the processes of lightning is some mechanism capable of generating gamma rays, which escape the atmosphere and are observed by orbiting spacecraft. Brought to light by NASA's Gerald Fishman in 1994 in an article in ''Science'', these so-called terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) were observed by accident, while he was documenting instances of extraterrestrial gamma ray bursts observed by the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO). TGFs are much shorter in duration, however, lasting only about 1 ms.

Professor Umran Inan of Stanford University linked a TGF to an individual lightning stroke occurring within 1.5 ms of the TGF event, proving for the first time that the TGF was of atmospheric origin and associated with lightning strikes.

CGRO recorded only about 77 events in 10 years; however, more recently the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) spacecraft, as reported by David Smith of UC Santa Cruz, has been observing TGFs at a much higher rate, indicating that these occur about 50 times per day globally (still a very small fraction of the total lightning on the planet). The energy levels recorded exceed 20 MeV.

Scientists from Duke University have also been studying the link between certain lightning events and the mysterious gamma ray emissions that emanate from the Earth's own atmosphere, in light of newer observations of TGFs made by RHESSI. Their study suggests that this gamma radiation fountains upward from starting points at surprisingly low altitudes in thunderclouds.

Steven Cummer, from Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering, said, "These are higher energy gamma rays than come from the sun. And yet here they are coming from the kind of terrestrial thunderstorm that we see here all the time."

Early hypotheses of this pointed to lightning generating high electric fields and driving relativistic runaway electron avalanche at altitudes well above the cloud where the thin atmosphere allows gamma rays to easily escape into space, similar to the way sprites are generated. Subsequent evidence however, has suggested instead that TGFs may be produced by driving relativistic electron avalanches within or just above high thunderclouds. Though hindered by atmospheric absorption of the escaping gamma rays, these theories do not require the exceptionally intense lightning that high altitude theories of TGF generation rely on.

The role of TGFs and their relationship to lightning remains a subject of ongoing scientific study.

Sound

Because the electrostatic discharge of terrestrial lightning superheats the air to plasma temperatures along the length of the discharge channel in a short duration, kinetic theory dictates gaseous molecules undergo a rapid increase in pressure and thus expand outward from the lightning creating a shock wave audible as thunder. Since the sound waves propagate not from a single point source but along the length of the lightning's path, the sound origin's varying distances from the observer can generate a rolling or rumbling effect. Perception of the sonic characteristics is further complicated by factors such as the irregular and possibly branching geometry of the lightning channel, by acoustic echoing from terrain, and by the typically multiple-stroke characteristic of the lightning strike.

Since light travels at a significantly greater speed than sound through air, an observer can approximate the distance to the strike by timing the interval between the visible lightning and the audible thunder it generates. At standard atmospheric temperature and pressures near ground level, sound will travel at roughly 343 m/s (1125 ft/sec); a lightning flash preceding its thunder by five seconds would be about one mile (1.6 km) distant. A flash preceding thunder by three seconds is about one kilometer distant. Consequently, a lightning strike observed at a very close distance (within 100 meters) will be accompanied by the sound of a loud snap, instant thunder, and the smell of ozone (O₃).

Lightning-induced magnetism

The movement of electrical charges produces a magnetic field (see electromagnetism). The intense currents of a lightning discharge create a fleeting but very strong magnetic field. Where the lightning current path passes through rock, soil, or metal these materials can become permanently magnetized. This effect is known as lightning-induced remanent magnetism, or LIRM. These currents follow the least resistive path, often horizontally near the surface but sometimes vertically, where faults, ore bodies, or ground water offers a less resistive path. Lightning-induced magnetic anomalies can be mapped in the ground, and analysis of magnetized materials can confirm lightning was the source of the magnetization and provide an estimate of the peak current of the lightning discharge.

==Records and locations== {| style="float: right;" |- | |}

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An old estimate of the frequency of lightning on Earth was 100 times a second. Now that there are satellites that can detect lightning, including in places where there is nobody to observe it, it is known to occur on average 44 ± 5 times a second, for a total of nearly 1.4 billion flashes per year; 75% of these flashes are either cloud-to-cloud or intra-cloud and 25% are cloud-to-ground.

The maps on the right show that lightning is not distributed evenly around the planet. Approximately 70% of lightning occurs in the tropics where the majority of thunderstorms occur. The place where lightning occurs most often (according to the data from 2004–2005) is near the small village of Kifuka in the mountains of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the elevation is around . On average this region receives 158 lightning strikes per square kilometre (approx. 0.4 square mile) a year. Above the Catatumbo river, which feeds Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela, Catatumbo lightning flashes several times per minute, 140 to 160 nights per year, accounting for 25% of the world's production of upper-atmospheric ozone. Singapore has one of the highest rates of lightning activity in the world. The city of Teresina in northern Brazil has the third-highest rate of occurrences of lightning strikes in the world. The surrounding region is referred to as the ''Chapada do Corisco'' ("Flash Lightning Flatlands"). In the US, Central Florida sees more lightning than any other area. For example, in what is called "Lightning Alley", an area from Tampa, to Orlando, there are as many as 50 strikes per square mile (about 20 per km²) per year. The Empire State Building is struck by lightning on average 23 times each year, and was once struck 8 times in 24 minutes.

Roy Sullivan held a Guinness World Record after surviving 7 different lightning strikes across 35 years.

In July 2007, lightning killed up to 30 people when it struck a remote mountain village Ushari Dara in northwestern Pakistan.

On 31 October 2005, sixty-eight dairy cows, all in full milk, died on a farm at Fernbrook on the Waterfall Way near Dorrigo, New South Wales after being struck by lightning. Three others were paralysed for several hours but they later made a full recovery. The cows were sheltering under a tree when it was struck by lightning and the electricity spread onto the surrounding soil killing the animals.

Lightning rarely strikes the open ocean, although some sea regions are lightning "hot spots". Winter storms passing off the east coast of the United States often erupt with electrical activity when they cross the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream endures about the same number of lightning strikes as the southern plains of the USA.

Lightning detection

The earliest detector invented to warn of the approach of a thunder storm was the lightning bell. Benjamin Franklin installed one such device in his house. The detector was based on an electrostatic device called the 'electric chimes' invented by Andrew Gordon in 1742.

Lightning discharges generate a wide range of electromagnetic radiations, including radio-frequency pulses. The times at which a pulse from a given lightning discharge arrive at several receivers can be used to locate the source of the discharge. The United States federal government has constructed a nation-wide grid of such lightning detectors, allowing lightning discharges to be tracked in real time throughout the continental U.S.

In addition to ground-based lightning detection, several instruments aboard satellites have been constructed to observe lightning distribution. These include the Optical Transient Detector (OTD), aboard the OrbView-1 satellite launched on April 3, 1995, and the subsequent Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) aboard TRMM launched on November 28, 1997.

Notable lightning strikes

Some lightning strikes have caused either numerous fatalities or great damage. The following is a partial list:

In 1660, lightning struck the gunpowder magazine at Osaka Castle, Japan; the resultant explosion set the castle on fire. In 1665, lightning struck the main tower of the castle and it burned down to the foundation.

A particularly deadly lightning incident occurred in Brescia, Italy in 1769. Lightning struck the Church of St. Nazaire, igniting the 100 tons of gunpowder in its vaults; the resulting explosion killed 3000 people and destroyed a sixth of the city. 1902: A lightning strike damaged the upper section of the Eiffel Tower, requiring the reconstruction of its top

December 8, 1963: Pan Am Flight 214 crashed as result of a lightning strike, killing all 81 people on board.

July 12, 1970, the central mast of the Orlunda radio transmitter collapsed after a lightning strike destroyed its basement insulator.

December 24, 1971: LANSA Flight 508 crashed as a result of lightning in Peru, with 91 people killed. November 2, 1994, lightning struck fuel tanks in Dronka, Egypt and caused 469 fatalities.

Harvesting lightning energy

Since the late 1980s there have been several attempts to investigate the possibility of harvesting energy from lightning. While a single bolt of lightning carries a relatively large amount of energy (approximately 5 million joules), this energy is concentrated in a small location and is passed during an extremely short period of time (milliseconds); therefore, extremely high electrical power is involved. It has been proposed that the energy contained in lightning be used to generate hydrogen from water, or to harness the energy from rapid heating of water due to lightning.

A technology capable of harvesting lightning energy would need to be able to rapidly capture the high power involved in a lightning bolt. Several schemes have been proposed, but the ever-changing energy involved in each lightning bolt render lightning power harvesting from ground based rods impractical - too high, it will damage the storage, too low and it may not work. According to Northeastern University physicists Stephen Reucroft and John Swain, a lightning bolt carries a few million joules of energy, enough to power a 100-watt bulb for 5.5 hours. Additionally, lightning is sporadic, and therefore energy would have to be collected and stored; it is difficult to convert high-voltage electrical power to the lower-voltage power that can be stored.

In the summer of 2007, an alternative energy company called Alternate Energy Holdings, Inc. (AEHI) tested a method for capturing the energy in lightning bolts. The design for the system had been purchased from an Illinois inventor named Steve LeRoy, who had reportedly been able to power a 60-watt light bulb for 20 minutes using the energy captured from a small flash of artificial lightning. The method involved a tower, a means of shunting off a large portion of the incoming energy, and a capacitor to store the rest. According to Donald Gillispie, CEO of AEHI, they "couldn't make it work," although "given enough time and money, you could probably scale this thing up... it's not black magic; it's truly math and science, and it could happen."

According to Dr. Martin A. Uman, co-director of the Lightning Research Laboratory at the University of Florida and a leading authority on lightning, a single lightning strike, while fast and bright, contains very little energy, and dozens of lighting towers like those used in the system tested by AEHI would be needed to operate five 100-watt light bulbs for the course of a year. When interviewed by ''The New York Times'', he stated that the energy in a thunderstorm is comparable to that of an atomic bomb, but trying to harvest the energy of lightning from the ground is "hopeless".

Another major challenge when attempting to harvest energy from lighting is the impossibility of predicting when and where thunderstorms will occur. Even during a storm, it is very difficult to tell where exactly lightning will strike.

A relatively easy method is the direct harvesting of atmospheric charge before it turns into lightning. At a small scale, it was done a few times with the most known example being Benjamin Franklin's experiment with his kite. However, to collect reasonable amounts of energy very large constructions are required, and it is relatively hard to utilize the resulting extremely high voltage with reasonable efficiency.

In culture

As expressions and symbols

The expression "Lightning never strikes twice (in the same place)" is similar to "Opportunity never knocks twice" in the vein of a "once in a lifetime" opportunity, ''i.e.'', something that is generally considered improbable. Lightning occurs frequently and more so in specific areas. Since various factors alter the probability of strikes at any given location, repeat lightning strikes have a very low probability (but are not impossible). Similarly, "A bolt from the blue" refers to something totally unexpected.

Some political parties use lightning flashes as a symbol of power, such as the People's Action Party in Singapore and the British Union of Fascists during the 1930s. The Schutzstaffel, the secret police of the Nazi Party, used the Sig rune in their logo which symbolizes lightning. The German word Blitzkrieg, which means "lightning war", was a major offensive strategy of the German army during World War II.

In French and Italian, the expression for "Love at first sight" is ''Coup de foudre'' and ''Colpo di fulmine'', respectively, which literally translated means "lightning strike". Some European languages have a separate word for lightning which strikes the ground (as opposed to lightning in general); often it is a cognate of the English word "rays". The name of New Zealand's most celebrated thoroughbred horse, Phar Lap, derives from the shared Zhuang and Thai word for lightning.

The bolt of lightning in heraldry is called a thunderbolt and is shown as a zigzag with non-pointed ends. This symbol usually represents power and speed. In Hindu mythology the thunderbolt (Sanskrit ''Vajra'') is an attribute of the Hindu god Indra. The lightning bolt or thunderbolt appears also as a heraldic charge.

Ceraunoscopy

This is divination by observing lightning or by listening to thunder. It is a type of aeromancy. People have also sought to control lightning by conducting rituals or casting spells.

Religion

Over the centuries, lightning in cultures was viewed as part of a deity or a deity in of itself. One of the most classic portrayals of this is of the Greek god Zeus. An ancient story is when Zeus was at war against Kronus and the Titans, he released his brothers, Hades and Poseidon, along with the Cyclopes. In turn, the Cyclopes gave Zeus the Thunderbolt as a weapon, which was near the beginning of Zeus himself. The thunderbolt became a popular symbol of Zeus and continues to be today. {| style="float: right;" | |}

The Aztecs also portrayed Lightning as a supernatural power of the god Tlaloc. In mythology, Tlaloc was the bringer not only of beneficial rain but of storms, killer lightning bolts, flood, and disease.

In Slavic mythology the highest god of the pantheon is Perun, the god of thunder and lightning.

Pērkons/Perkūnas is the common Baltic god of thunder, one of the most important deities in the Baltic pantheon. In both Latvian and Lithuanian mythology, he is documented as the god of thunder, rain, mountains, oak trees and the sky.

In Norse mythology, Thor is the god of thunder and the sound of thunder comes from the chariot he rides across the sky. The lightnings come from his hammer Mjölnir.

In Finnish mythology, Ukko (engl. ''Old Man'') is the god of thunder, sky and weather. The Finnish word for thunder is ''ukkonen''; derived from the god's name.

In the Jewish religion, a blessing ''"...He who does acts of creation"'' is to be recited, upon sighting lightning. The Talmud refers to the Hebrew word for the sky, ("Shamaim") - as built from fire and water ("Esh Umaim"), since the sky is the source of the inexplicable mixture of "fire" and water that come together, during rainstorms. This is mentioned in various prayers and discussed in writings of Kabbalah.

In Islam, the Quran states: ''"He it is Who showeth you the lightning, a fear and a hope, and raiseth the heavy clouds. The thunder hymneth His praise and (so do) the angels for awe of Him. He launcheth the thunder-bolts and smiteth with them whom He will."'' (Qur'an 13:12–13) and, ''"Have you not seen how God makes the clouds move gently, then joins them together, then makes them into a stack, and then you see the rain come out of it..."'' (Quran, 24:43). The preceding verse, after mentioning clouds and rain, speaks about hail and lightning, ''"...And He sends down hail from mountains (clouds) in the sky, and He strikes with it whomever He wills, and turns it from whomever He wills."''

In India, the Hindu god Indra is considered the god of rains and lightning and the king of the Devas.

In Japan, the Shinto god Raijin is considered the god of lightning and thunder. He is depicted as a demon who strikes a drum to create lightning.

In the traditional religion of the African Bantu tribes, such as the Baganda and Banyoro of Uganda, lightning is a sign of the ire of the gods. The Baganda specifically attribute the lightning phenomenon to the god Kiwanuka one of the main trio in the Lubaale gods of the sea or lake. Kiwanuka starts wild fires, strikes trees and other high buildings and a number of shrines are established in the hills, mountains and plains to stay in his favor. Lightning is also known to be invoked upon one's enemies by uttering certain chants, prayers, and making sacrifices.

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

How Lightning Works at HowStuffWorks

How to survive in a lightning storm A guide for children and youth

Lightning Safety Page - National Weather Service Pueblo Colorado

Outdoor guide to lightning safety and first-aid

Map of lightning strikes in USA over last 60 minutes

Live storm data and sferics for southern England Generated by data recorded by a weather station at Newport, Isle of Wight, UK

Colorado Lightning Resource Center

Webarchive: April 25, 1997 Sandia-led research may zap old beliefs about lightning protection at critical facilities; Triggered lightning tests leading to safer storage bunkers

2003-11-06, ScienceDaily: Thunderstorm Research Shocks Conventional Theories; Florida Tech Physicist Throws Open Debate On Lightning's Cause

European Cooperation for Lightning Detection

NASA Finds Lightning Clears Safe Zone in Earth's Radiation Belt

National Geographic Lightning Simulator

Lightning strikes governed by moving cloud layers - the first theory to fully explain lightning formation and dynamics, ''New Scientist'', 23 March 2008

Social & Economic Costs of Lightning from "NOAA Socioeconomics" website initiative

Signature of Antimatter Detected in Lightning

WWLLN World Wide Lightning Location Network

Jets, sprites & elves

Homepage of the Eurosprite campaign, itself part of the CAL (Coupled Atmospheric Layers) research group

March 2, 1999, University of Houston: UH Physicists Pursue Lightning-Like Mysteries Quote: "...Red sprites and blue jets are brief but powerful lightning-like flashes that appear at altitudes of 40-100 km (25-60 miles) above thunderstorms..."

Ground and Balloon-Borne Observations of Sprites and Jets

Barrington-Leigh, C. P., "''Elves : Ionospheric Heating By the Electromagnetic Pulses from Lightning (A primer)''". Space Science Lab, Berkeley.

"''Darwin Sprites '97''". Space Physics Group, University of Otago.

Barrington-Leigh, Christopher, "''VLF Research at Palmer Station''".

Sprites, jets and TLE pictures and articles

Category:Electrical phenomena Category:Space plasmas Category:Weather hazards Category:Storm

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name	Klaus Nomi
background	solo_singer
birth name	Klaus Sperber
birth date	January 24, 1944
birth place	Immenstadt, Bavaria, Germany
death date	August 06, 1983
death place	New York City, New York, United States
genre	New Wave, synthpop, experimental, dark cabaret, baroque, opera, disco
occupation	Singer-songwriter, actor
years active	1977–1983
label	RCA, Heliocentric
associated acts	David Bowie, Joey Arias, Man Parrish, Kristian Hoffman
website	}}

Klaus Sperber (January 24, 1944 – August 6, 1983), better known as Klaus Nomi, was a German countertenor noted for his wide vocal range and an unusual, otherworldly stage persona.

Nomi was known for his bizarrely visionary theatrical live performances, heavy make-up, unusual costumes, and a highly stylized signature hairdo which flaunted a receding hairline. His songs were equally unusual, ranging from synthesizer-laden interpretations of classical music opera to covers of 1960s pop standards like Chubby Checker's "The Twist" and Lou Christie's "Lightnin' Strikes". He is remembered in the US as one of David Bowie's backup singers for a 1979 performance on ''Saturday Night Live''.

Nomi died in 1983 at the age of 39 as a result of complications from AIDS.

Early life

Klaus Nomi was born Klaus Sperber in Immenstadt, Bavaria, Germany on January 24, 1944. In the 1960s, he worked as an usher at the Deutsche Oper in West Berlin where he sang for the other ushers and maintenance crew on stage in front of the fire curtain after performances. Around that time he also sang opera arias at the Berlin gay discothèque Kleist Casino.

Nomi moved to New York City in 1972. He began his involvement with the art scene based in the East Village. According to a documentary film made by Andrew Horn, Nomi took singing lessons and supported himself working as a pastry chef.

Career

In 1972, Nomi appeared in a satirical camp production of Richard Wagner's ''Das Rheingold'' at Charles Ludlam's Ridiculous Theater Company as the Rheinmaidens and the Wood Bird.

Nomi came to the attention of New York City's art scene in 1978 with his performance in "New Wave Vaudeville", a four-night event MC'd by artist David McDermott. Dressed in a skin-tight spacesuit with clear plastic cape, Klaus sang the aria ''Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix'' ("My heart opens to your voice") from Camille Saint-Saëns' 1877 opera ''Samson et Dalila''. The performance ended with a chaotic crash of strobe lights, smoke bombs, and loud electronic sound effects as Nomi backed away into the smoke. Joey Arias recalled: "I still get goose pimples when I think about it... It was like he was from a different planet and his parents were calling him home. When the smoke cleared, he was gone." The reaction was so overwhelmingly positive that he was invited to perform at clubs all over New York City.

At the New Wave Vaudeville show Klaus Nomi met Kristian Hoffman, songwriter for the Mumps. Hoffman was a performer and MC in the second incarnation of New Wave Vaudeville and a close friend of Susan Hannaford and Tom Scully, who produced the show, and Ann Magnuson, who directed it.

Anya Phillips, then manager of James Chance in the Contortions, suggested Klaus and Kristian form a band. Hoffman became Klaus' de facto musical director, assembling a band that included Page Wood from another New Wave vaudeville act, Come On, and Joe Katz, who was concurrently in The Student Teachers, the Accidents, and The Mumps.

Hoffman helped Klaus choose his pop covers, including the Lou Christie song "Lightning Strikes." Hoffman wrote several pop songs with which Klaus is closely identified: "The Nomi Song", "Total Eclipse", "After The Fall", and "Simple Man", the title song of Nomi's second RCA French LP.

This configuration of the Klaus Nomi band performed at Manhattan clubs, including several performances at Max's Kansas City, Danceteria and Hurrah.

Disagreements with the management Klaus engaged led to a dissolution of this band, and Klaus continued without them.

In the late 1970s while performing at Club 57, The Mudd Club, The Pyramid Club, and other venues, Nomi assembled a group of up-and-coming models, singers, artists, and musicians to perform live with him, which at times included Joey Arias, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, John Sex and Kenny Scharf. He also appeared on Manhattan Cable's TV Party. David Bowie heard about Nomi's performances in New York and soon met him and Joey Arias at the Mudd Club. Bowie hired them as performers and backup singers for his appearance on ''Saturday Night Live'' which aired on December 15, 1979. The band performed "TVC 15", "The Man Who Sold the World", and "Boys Keep Swinging". During the performance of "TVC 15", Nomi and Arias dragged around a large prop pink poodle with a television screen in its mouth. Nomi was so impressed with the plastic quasi-tuxedo suit that Bowie wore during "The Man Who Sold the World" that he commissioned one to be made for himself. Nomi can be seen wearing the suit on the cover of his self-titled album, as well as during a number of his music videos. Nomi wore his variant of the outfit, in monochromatic black-and-white with spandex and makeup to match, until the last few months of his life. Then, mostly focusing on operatic pieces and increasingly ill with AIDS-related illnesses, including Kaposi's sarcoma, he wore a Baroque era operatic outfit complete with full collar.

Nomi also collaborated with producer Man Parrish. He appeared on Parrish's album ''Hip Hop Bee Bop'' as a backup vocalist on the track "Six Simple Synthesizers."

He played a supporting role as a Nazi official in Anders Grafstrom's 1980 underground film ''The Long Island Four''.

The 1981 rock documentary film, ''Urgh! A Music War'' features Nomi's live performance of ''Total Eclipse.'' His performance of ''Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix'' was used as the music for the closing credits.

666 Fifth Avenue was listed as the contact address in the liner notes of Nomi's 1981 self-titled record.

Illness and death

Nomi died on August 6, 1983 at the Sloan Kettering Hospital Center in New York City, one of the first celebrities to die of complications from AIDS. His ashes were scattered over New York City.

In popular culture

Filmmakers such as Andrew Horn and writers such as Jim Fouratt consider Nomi an important part of the 1980s East Village scene, which was a hotbed of development for punk rock, music, the visual arts, and the avant-garde. Although Nomi's work had not yet met with national commercial success at the time of his death, he garnered a cult following, mainly in New York and in France.

Andrew Horn's 2004 feature documentary about Nomi's life, ''The Nomi Song'', which was released by Palm Pictures, helped spur renewed interest in the singer, including an art exhibit in San Francisco at the New Langton Arts gallery and one in Milan (Italy) at the Res Pira Lab, which subsequently moved to Berlin's Strychnin Gallery, called "Do You Nomi?". New music pieces inspired by Nomi were commissioned by the gallery from a variety of up and coming European musicians, among these the singer who is considered by many Nomi's heir, Ernesto Tomasini.

In 2001 German band Rosenstolz, featuring alternative pop stars Marc Almond and Nina Hagen, covered "Total Eclipse" for a maxi single CD release.

British pop icon Morrissey used the song ''Wayward Sisters'' as an introduction prior to appearing on stage to begin a concert for his Kill Uncle tour. He used the song ''After the Fall'' in the same way during his 2007 American tour. Morrissey included Nomi's song ''Death'' in his compilation of influential songs titled ''Under the Influence'', after selecting it in 1984 as the last track for his appearance on the BBC radio show 'My Top 10'. Morrissey also chose Nomi's version of Schumann's "Der Nussbaum" ("The Walnut Tree") as one his selections on BBC Radio 4's "Desert Island Discs" in November 2009.

On television, a fictionalized version of Klaus Nomi appears in a two-part episode of animated comedy/adventure series ''The Venture Bros.''

Nomi's cover of Lesley Gore's 1964 hit "You Don't Own Me" has been featured on the nationally broadcast ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'' as the "Gay Update Theme". Nomi does not change the gender of the song, singing, "Don't say I can't play with other boys!"

Nomi's visual aesthetic has been noted as an influence on women's fashion such as Boudicca, Givenchy, and Paco Rabanne, as well as men's fashion designers such as Gareth Pugh and Bruno Pieters for Hugo Boss. Jean Paul Gaultier's Spring 2009 couture was influenced by Nomi and he used Nomi's recording of ''Nomi Song'' in his runway show.

A biographical musical titled ''You Don't Nomi'' is currently developed by French playwright Baptiste Delval and director Nicolas Guilleminot. The title role is assigned to singer Matthieu d'Aurey who will share the stage with actor Denis d'Arcangelo. The play has been presented on June 10, 2011 in Paris during a public reading. The team is currently looking for producers.

Discography

|- | width=50% valign=top |

Albums

''Klaus Nomi'' (1981)

''Simple Man'' (1982)

''Encore'' (1983)

''In Concert'' (1986)

''Za Bakdaz'' (2007) – posthumous compilation of an "unfinished opera"

Singles

"You Don't Own Me" / "Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It)" (1981)

"Nomi Song" / "Cold Song" (1982)

"Lightnin' Strikes" / "Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It)" (1982)

"Simple Man" / "Death" (1982)

"Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" / "ICUROK" (1982)

"ICUROK" / "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" (Canadian 12")

"Za Bak Daz" / "Silent Night" (CD single, 1998)

"After the Fall"

| valign=top |

Music videos

"Simple Man" (directed and edited by John Zieman)

"Lightning Strikes"

"Nomi Song"

"After the Fall"

"Falling in Love Again"

"The Cold Song" (from Henry Purcell's 1691 opera ''King Arthur'')

Movie appearances

''Urgh! A Music War'' (1982)

''Long Island Four'' (1979)

''Mr. Mike's Mondo Video'' (1979)

References

External links

Klaus Nomi Keys Of Life

Klaus Nomi Za Bakdaz

Klaus Nomi Home Page

''The Nomi Song'', a documentary feature film devoted to the life of Klaus Nomi

"Lightning Strikes" music video

"Falling in Love Again" music video

"The Cold Song" music video

"Samson and Delilah Aria" music video

"Three Wishes" music video

Category:1944 births Category:1983 deaths Category:AIDS-related deaths in New York Category:Countertenors Category:Dark cabaret musicians Category:German electronic musicians Category:German experimental musicians Category:German male singers Category:German performance artists Category:German singer-songwriters Category:LGBT musicians from Germany Category:New Wave musicians Category:New York City performance art Category:People from Immenstadt Category:Synthpop musicians

cs:Klaus Nomi de:Klaus Nomi el:Κλάους Νόμι es:Klaus Nomi fr:Klaus Nomi it:Klaus Nomi he:קלאוס נומי lt:Klaus Nomi nl:Klaus Nomi ja:クラウス・ノミ no:Klaus Nomi pl:Klaus Nomi pt:Klaus Nomi ru:Номи, Клаус sh:Klaus Nomi fi:Klaus Nomi sv:Klaus Nomi

:''For the mathematician, see Arthur T. Benjamin'' Arthur Leslie Benjamin (18 September 189310 April 1960) was an Australian composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. He is best known as the composer of ''Jamaican Rhumba'', composed in 1938.

Biography

Arthur Benjamin was born in Sydney, but at age 3 his parents moved to Brisbane. At the age of six he made his first public appearance as a pianist and his formal musical training began three years later with the Brisbane City organist, George Sampson. In 1911, Benjamin won a scholarship from Brisbane Grammar School to the Royal College of Music (RCM), where he studied composition with Charles Villiers Stanford, harmony and counterpoint with Thomas Dunhill, and piano with Frederick Cliffe.

In 1914 he joined the Officer Training Corps, receiving a temporary commission in April 1915. He served initially in the infantry as 2nd Lieutenant with the 32nd Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers and in November 1917 he was attached to the Royal Flying Corps. On 31 July 1918 his aircraft was shot down over Germany by the young Hermann Göring, and he spent the remainder of the war as a German prisoner of war at Ruhleben camp near Berlin. There he met the composer Edgar Bainton, who had been interned since 1914, and who was later to become Director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music.

The manuscript of the unpublished ''Violin Sonata in E minor'' bears the date 1918, the only surviving work of that year and one of very few to be written by Benjamin during the war.

He returned to Australia in 1919 and became piano professor at the NSW State Conservatorium of Music, Sydney. He returned to England in 1921 to become piano professor at the RCM. Following his appointment in 1926 to a professorship which he held for the next thirteen years at the RCM, Benjamin developed a distinguished career as a piano teacher. His better-known students from that era include Muir Mathieson, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Miriam Hyde, Joan Trimble, Stanley Bate, Bernard Stevens, Lamar Crowson, Alun Hoddinott, Dorian Le Gallienne, Natasha Litvin (later Stephen Spender's wife and a prominent concert pianist), William Blezard and Benjamin Britten, whose ''Holiday Diary'' suite for solo piano is dedicated to Benjamin and mimics many of his teacher’s mannerisms.

He continued writing chamber works for the next few years – ''Three Pieces for violin and piano'' (1919–24); ''Three Impressions'' (voice and string quartet, 1919); ''Five Pieces for Cello'' (1923); ''Pastoral Fantasy'' (string quartet, 1924), which won a Carnegie Award that year; ''Sonatina'' (violin and piano, 1924).

Orchestral works became more common after 1927 — ''Rhapsody on Negro Themes'' (MS 1919); ''Concertino for piano and orchestra'' (1926/7); ''Light Music Suite'' (1928); ''Overture to an Italian Comedy'' (1937); ''Cotillon'' Suite (1938). There also appeared over twenty meticulously crafted songs and choral settings.

He was also an adjudicator and examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, which led him to places such as Australia, Canada and the West Indies. It was in the West Indies that he discovered the native tune on which he based his best-known piece, ''Jamaican Rhumba'', one of ''Two Jamaican Pieces'', composed in 1938, for which the Jamaican government gave him a free barrel of rum a year as thanks for making their country known.

The Violin Concerto of 1932 was premiered by Antonio Brosa with Benjamin conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 1935 he accompanied the 10-year old Canadian cellist Lorne Munroe on a concert tour of Europe. Three years later he wrote a ''Sonatina'' for Munroe, who later became the principal cellist with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic, and also recorded the piece.

His ''Romantic Fantasy for Violin, Viola and Orchestra'' was premiered by Eda Kersey and Bernard Shore in 1938, under the composer. Its first recording was by Jascha Heifetz and William Primrose.

He resigned from his post at the RCM and left to settle in Vancouver, Canada, where he remained for the duration of the war. In 1941 he was appointed conductor of the newly-formed Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Symphony Orchestra, holding the post until 1946. During this time he gave “literally hundreds” of Canadian first performances. After a series of radio talks and concerts in addition to music teaching, conducting and composing, he became a major figure in Canadian musical life. He frequently visited the United States, broadcasting and arranging many performances of contemporary British music. He was also Resident Lecturer at Reed College, Portland, Oregon between 1944 and 1945.

Almost unknown today, Arthur Benjamin's Symphony was given its British premiere at the Cheltenham Festival in July 1948 by Sir John Barbirolli and the Hallé Orchestra. Further performances by the same artists took place in Manchester, Liverpool and the Royal Albert Hall in London the following year. After one more performance by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in August 1954, conducted by the composer, the work appears to have been utterly neglected until it was recorded in recent times by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Christopher Lyndon Gee.

The other major work of the period was the ''Sonata for Viola and Piano'' of 1942, also known as ''Elegy, Waltz and Toccata'' and bearing the dedication "Written for and dedicated to William Primrose". Benjamin simultaneously prepared the work as a ''Concerto for Viola and Orchestra'', which was given its premiere by Frederick Riddle and the Hallé Orchestra on 30 June 1948, again conducted by Barbirolli. Riddle later recorded the work in its sonata version with the pianist Wilfred Parry for the BBC. Both the Sonata and the Symphony reflect not just the sombre mood of the times but also the darker territory that Benjamin had begun to explore.

Other orchestral and concertante works written in Canada were the Sonatina (1940), ''Ballade'' (1944), ''Suite for Flute and Strings'' (1945), ''Prelude to Holiday'' (1941), ''Red River Jig'' (1945), the orchestral setting of the ''Two Jamaican Pieces'' (1942), ''From San Domingo'' (1945), ''Caribbean Dance'' (1946) and two Mendelssohn transcriptions: ''Præludium'' and ''Prelude and Fugue'' (1941). The ''Oboe Concerto on themes of Cimarosa'' (1942) was an orchestration of harpsichord pieces by Domenico Cimarosa; for many years it was frequently mis-labelled as "Cimarosa's Oboe Concerto, arranged by Arthur Benjamin".

The ''Elegiac Mazurka'' of 1941 was commissioned as part of the memorial volume 'Homage to Paderewski’ in honour of the Polish pianist who had died that year. In 1945 a shortened piano solo arrangement of the ''Jamaican Rhumba'' was published.

Returning to England in 1946, he resumed teaching at the RCM. In 1949, Benjamin wrote his piano concerto ''Concerto quasi una Fantasia''. The concerto, written to a commission from the Australian Broadcasting Commission, served as the solo vehicle for Benjamin's Australian concert tour of 1950 and was premiered by him on 5 September 1950 with Eugene Goossens and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. It was repeated in a further seven Australian cities. These were Benjamin's final performances as a pianist.

The other major original works written during the 1950s were the Harmonica Concerto (1953), written for Larry Adler, who performed it many times and recorded it at least twice; the ballet ''Orlando’s Silver Wedding'' (1951), ''Tombeau de Ravel'' for clarinet and piano, a second string quartet (1959) and the Wind Quintet (1960). He had a lasting admiration for Maurice Ravel, whose influence is most obvious in ''Tombeau de Ravel'' and the much earlier ''Suite'' of 1926 for piano solo.

He was honoured by the Worshipful Company of Musicians by the award of the Cobbett Medal later that year (1957).

His private students included John Carmichael.

Arthur Benjamin died on 10 April 1960, at the age of 66, at the Middlesex Hospital, London, from a re-occurrence of the cancer that had first attacked him three years earlier. An alternative explanation of the immediate cause of death is hepatitis, contracted while Benjamin and his partner, Jack Henderson, a Canadian who worked in the music publishing business, were holidaying with the Australian painter Donald Friend in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

Operas

Benjamin wrote four operas. The one-act opera ''The Devil Take Her'', to a libretto by Alan Collard and John B. Gordon, was first produced at the RCM on 1 December 1931, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham. Another one-acter, ''Prima Donna'' (1932) had to wait until 23 February 1949 for its premiere, at the Fortune Theatre in London. Its libretto was by Cedric Cliffe, son of Benjamin's piano teacher at the RCM Frederic Cliffe. Both these works met with critical success.

''A Tale of Two Cities'' (1950), and ''Mañana'' were full-length operas. The librettist for the former was again Cedric Cliffe. First produced by Dennis Arundell during the Festival of Britain in 1951, it won a gold medal and was later broadcast in a live performance by BBC Radio 3 on 17 April 1953. After this performance, Benjamin revised the piece into its final version. The opera was successfully produced in this form in San Francisco in April 1960, only days before his death. ''Mañana'' was commissioned in 1955 and produced by BBC television on 1 February 1956. Unfortunately, it was judged a flop at the time and never revived.

A fifth opera, ''Tartuffe'', with a libretto by Cedric Cliffe based on Molière, was unfinished at Benjamin's death. The scoring was completed by the composer Alan Boustead and the work produced by the New Opera Company at Sadler’s Wells on 30 November 1964, conducted by Boustead. This appears to have been this opera’s only performance.

Films

Benjamin was equally active as a writer of music for films, beginning in 1934 with ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'', an adaptation of music from the Napoleonic era, and Alfred Hitchcock’s ''The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1934, remade 1956), for which Benjamin composed the extended ''Storm Clouds Cantata''. Other scores included those for Alexander Korda's 1947 film of ''An Ideal Husband'', ''The Conquest of Everest'', ''The Cumberland Story'' (1947), ''Steps of the Ballet'' (British Council/Central Office of Information 1948), ''The Crowthers of Bankdam'' (Holbein Films 1947), ''Above Us the Waves'' (1955) and ''Fire Down Below'' (1957/60). While most of his music scores are archived in the British Library, his film scores are completely lost. Apart from the Boosey & Hawkes edition of ''An Ideal Husband'' the only surviving score is the ''Storm Clouds Cantata''.

Premieres as pianist

Arthur Benjamin gave a number of important premieres including:

Herbert Howells' Piano Concerto No. 1 (1913)

Arthur Bliss's suite ''Masks'' for solo piano by (2 February 1926).

Constant Lambert's Piano Concerto (18 December 1931, Lambert conducting)

the British premiere of George Gershwin's ''Rhapsody in Blue''.

Tributes from other composers

Herbert Howells wrote an orchestral suite ''The Bs'', in five movements, each celebrating a close friend. The work was first performed in 1914, and ends with an heraldic march movement entitled "Benjee", saluting Arthur Benjamin, who the previous year had given the premiere of Howells' Piano Concerto No. 1. Howells' orchestral piece ''Procession'' (written for the 1922 Proms) is dedicated to Benjamin. Benjamin, in turn, later dedicated the three-page ''Saxophone Blues'' (1929) to Howells.

The Australian pianist and composer Ian Munro, who has a special affinity with Arthur Benjamin and has recorded many of his piano works, has written a small biography of Benjamin. The first major biography of Arthur Benjamin has been written by Wendy Hiscocks as her doctoral thesis at the Australian National University, and will be published in 2010 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death.

References

External links

Extensive biography

Another biography, this at the webpage of his publishers

Category:1893 births Category:1960 deaths Category:20th-century classical composers Category:Light music composers Category:Australian composers Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Music Category:Academics of the Royal College of Music Category:People from Sydney Category:Australian military personnel of World War I Category:LGBT musicians from Australia Category:LGBT composers Category:Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom

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