List of light sources
This is a list of sources of light, including both natural and artificial sources, and both processes and devices.
A typical light source emits electromagnetic radiation in the visible spectrum.
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Combustion
Natural
Celestial and atmospheric light
- Astronomical objects
- Sun (Sunlight (solar radiation))
- Starlight (Stars forming groups such as star clusters and galaxies and indirectly lighting nebulae)
- Bright star (List of brightest stars)
- Deep sky objects including quasars, accretion discs around black holes, blazars, magnetars, misc. nebulae, pulsars
- Supernova
- Milky Way
- Atmospheric entry (via ionization and/or heating) (Can be non-natural also)
- Lightning (Plasma (physics))
- Aurorae
- Cherenkov radiation (from cosmic rays hitting atmosphere)
- Coronal mass ejection
- Gamma-ray burst
Terrestrial
- Bioluminescence
- Luciferase - found in glowworms (Arachnocampa and Phengodidae), fireflies (Lampyridae), and certain bacteria
- Aequorea victoria (a type of jellyfish)
- Antarctic krill
- Parchment worm (Chaetopterus), which exhibits blue bioluminescence despite having no light sensitivity
- Cavitation bubbles
- The common piddock (Pholas dactylus)
- Foxfire, one of up to 71 known species of luminescent fungus
- Glowworm
- Sonoluminescence
- Volcanic
- Volcanic eruption (lightning, heated material)
- Lava
- Lava flow
- Lava lake
- Radioluminescence (man-made)
- Triboluminescence (also man-made)
- Earthquake light
Direct chemical
Artificial lights
- Argand lamp
- Argon flash
- Acetylene/Carbide lamps
- Betty lamp
- Butter lamp
- Candles
- Flash powder
- Gas lighting
- Gas mantle
- Kerosene lamps
- Lanterns
- Limelights
- Oil lamps
- Rushlights
- Safety lamps
- Torches
Electric powered
Electron stimulated
- Cathodoluminescence
- Electron Stimulated Luminescence (ESL light bulbs)
- Cathode ray tube (CRT monitor)
- Nixie tube
Incandescent lamps
Electroluminescent (EL) lamps
Gas discharge lamps
High-intensity discharge lamps
- Carbon arc lamps
- Ceramic discharge metal halide lamps
- Hydrargyrum medium-arc iodide lamps
- Mercury-vapor lamps
- Metal halide lamps
- Sodium vapor lamps
- Sulfur lamp
- Xenon arc lamps
Other
- Annihilation
- Blackbody radiation
- Bremsstrahlung
- Cherenkov radiation
- Cyclotron radiation
- Diffuse sky radiation
- Electrodeless lamp
- Explosion
- Floodlight
- Hybrid Solar Lighting
- Lasers, Laser diode
- Nonlinear optics
- Radioluminescence
- Sonoluminescence
- Synchrotron light; see also Synchrotron radiation
- Scintillation (physics)
- Supercontinuum
- Spark
- Tanning lamp
- Will-o'-the-wisp
- Light pollution
- High altitude nuclear explosion
See also
External links
- A CD spectrometer Color spectrographs of common light sources
- The Double Amici Prism Hand-Held Spectroscope in Practice - Dozens of raw visible spectra of a wide variety of light sources.