Welcome to Nerdville

Today I learned…

• Despite what Billy says in the classic 1985 film “St. Elmo’s Fire,” the phenomenon referred to by that name is an actual documented meteorological event. Moreover, St. Elmo was indeed a real person. Which leads to…
• St. Elmo’s fire is a “coronal discharge,” or glow, at the tip of a pointed object connected to ground in an atmospheric electric field, typically during a thunderstorm, e.g. a mast or flagpole. More casually, it’s a plasma, or ionized gas.
• Saint Erasmus of Formiae, venerated as the patron saint of sailors, is also known as St. Elmo. He died ca. 303.
• Cassiopeia, a constellation visible in the northern sky, is representative of Queen Casseiopeia, whose frequent boasts of unrivaled beauty caused Poseidon to throw her into the sky in such a position that she is upside down for half of the year. What a jerk.