Contents

List of light sources

Incandescence[edit]

Incandescence is the emission of light from a hot body as a result of its temperature.

• Nernst lamp – Early form of lamp using an incandescent ceramic rod
• Volcanic eruption

  

Combustion[edit]

Lamps[edit]

• Argand lamp – Type of oil lamp (obsolete)
• Carbide lamp – Acetylene-burning lamps
• Coleman lantern – Series of pressure lamps
• Betty lamp – Oil or grease burning lamp originating from Europe (error)^{[clarification needed]}
• Butter lamp – Lamps traditionally burning clarified yak butter
• Flash-lamp – Electrically ignited photographic light source
• Gas lighting – Type of artificial light
• Gas mantle – Device for generating bright light when heated by a flame
• Kerosene lamp – Type of lighting device that uses kerosene as a fuel
• Lantern – Portable lighting devices
• Limelight – Type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls (obsolete)
• Oil lamp – Lamp used for lighting by burning oil

  

• Tilley lamp – Pressurized kerosene lamps made by the Tilley company in the UK

Other[edit]

• Argon flash – Single-use source of very short and extremely bright flash of light - shock wave
• Brazier – Container used to burn charcoal or other solid fuel
• Bunsen burner – Laboratory device used to make fire from fuel and oxidizer gases
• Candle – Wick embedded in solid flammable substance

  

• Ember – A hot lump of slowly burning solid fuel, usually associated with a fire
• Explosive – Substance that can explode
• Fire – Rapid and hot oxidation of a material

  

• Fire whirl – Whirlwind induced by and often composed of fire

  

• Fireworks – Low explosive pyrotechnic devices for entertainment

  

• Flamethrower – Ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable stream of fire
• Incandescent light bulb – Electric light bulb with a resistively heated wire filament
• Muzzle flash – Light created by gunfire
• Rubens tube – Physics apparatus for demonstrating acoustic standing waves in a tube
• Torch – Stick with a flaming end used as a source of light

Nuclear and high-energy particle[edit]

• Annihilation – Collision of a particle and its antiparticle
• Nuclear reaction – Transformation of a nuclide to another
  • Nuclear fission – Nuclear reaction splitting an atom into multiple parts
  • Nuclear fusion – Process of combining atomic nuclei
• Nuclear weapon – Explosive weapon that utilizes nuclear reactions
• Cherenkov radiation – Electromagnetic radiation from a charged particle in a medium
• Synchrotron radiation – Electromagnetic radiation emitted by charged particles accelerated perpendicular to their velocity
• Free-electron laser – Laser using electron beam in vacuum as gain medium
• Bremsstrahlung – Electromagnetic radiation due to deceleration of charged particles

Celestial and atmospheric[edit]

• Astronomical objects
  • Sun (sunlight, solar radiation)
    • Stellar corona – Outermost layer of a star's atmosphere
    • Photosphere – Star's outer shell from which light is radiated
  • Star (Starlight)
    • Nova / supernova / hypernova
    • Galaxy – Large gravitationally bound system of stars and interstellar matter
      • Milky Way – Galaxy containing the Solar System
    • Star cluster – Group of stars
  • Deep-sky object – Any astronomical object that is not an individual star
    • Quasar – Active galactic nucleus containing a supermassive black hole
    • Accretion disk – Structure formed by diffuse material in orbital motion around a massive central body
    • Blazar – Very compact quasi-stellar radio source
    • Magnetar – Type of neutron star with a strong magnetic field
    • Pulsar – Rapidly rotating neutron star
• Atmospheric entry – Passage of an object through the gases of an atmosphere from outer space
  • Meteor

    

    • Meteor shower – Celestial event caused by streams of meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere
  • Bolide – Extremely bright meteor
    • Earth-grazing fireball – Meteoroid that enters Earth's atmosphere and leaves again
• Lightning (Plasma)
  • Sprite (lightning) – Electrical discharges above thunderstorm clouds
  • Ball lightning – Atmospheric electrical phenomenon
  • Upper-atmospheric lightning – Rare transient luminous events that occur over tops of thunder storms
  • Dry lightning – Thunderstorm where little to no precipitation reaches the groundPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Aurora – Atmospheric effect

Luminescence[edit]

Luminescence is emission of light by a substance not resulting from heat.

Bioluminescence[edit]

Bioluminescence is light resulting from biochemical reaction by a living organism.

• Aequorea victoria – Species of hydrozoan
• Antarctic krill – Species of krill
• Biophoton – Photon from a biological source
• Cavitation bubbles made by mantis shrimps^{[citation needed]}
• Firefly – Family of beetles
• Foxfire – Fungal bioluminescence
• Glowworm – Bioluminescent insect larve
• Luciferase – Enzyme family
• Panellus stipticus – Species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae found in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America

  

• Parchment worm – Genus of annelid worms
• Piddock – Family of bivalves
• Anglerfish – Bony fish of the teleost order Lophiiformes

Cathodoluminescence[edit]

Cathodoluminescence is light resulting from a luminescent material being struck by electrons.

Chemiluminescence[edit]

Chemiluminescence is light resulting from a chemical reaction.

Cryoluminescence[edit]

Cryoluminescence is the emission of light when an object is cooled.

Crystalloluminescence[edit]

Crystalloluminescence is light produced during crystallization.

Electric discharge (electrical energy)[edit]

• Main article: Electric arc
  • Arc lamp – Lamp that produces light by an electric arc
  • Flashtube – Incoherent light source
• Main article: Electrostatic discharge
  • Lightning – Weather phenomenon involving electrostatic discharge
  • Electric spark – Abrupt electrical discharge through an ionised channel
• Main article: Gas-discharge lamp
  • Electrodeless lamp – Gas-discharge lamp using electric and magnetic fields to transfer energy to the gas insidePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
  • Excimer lamp – Ultraviolet source based on spontaneous emission of excimer molecules.
  • Fluorescent lamp – Lamp using fluorescence to produce light
    • Compact fluorescent lamp – Fluorescent lamps with folded tubes, often with built-in ballast
    • Tanning lamp – Device which produces ultraviolet light used for indoor tanning
    • Blacklight – Light fixture that emits long-wave ultraviolet light and very little visible light
    • Geissler tube – Early gas-discharge lamp
    • Moore tube – American electrical engineer and inventor (Obsolete)
    • Ruhmkorff lamp – Artificial light sources powered by ionized gas electric dischargePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets (Obsolete)
  • High-intensity discharge lamp – Type of electric lamp/bulb

    

    • Carbon arc lamp – Lamp that produces light by an electric arcPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
    • Ceramic metal-halide lamp
    • Hydrargyrum medium-arc iodide lamp – used for stage lightingPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
    • Mercury-vapor lamp – Light source using an electric arc through mercury vapor
    • Metal-halide lamp – Type of lamp
    • Sodium-vapor lamp – Type of electric gas-discharge lamp
    • Sulfur lamp – Lighting system
    • Xenon arc lamp – Gas discharge lamp that produces intense white light
  • Hollow-cathode lamp – spectral line source used in physics and chemistryPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
  • Induction lighting – Gas-discharge lamp using electric and magnetic fields to transfer energy to the gas insidePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
    • Sulfur lamp – Lighting system

      

  • Neon and argon lamps – Light source based on gas discharge
    • Dekatron – Early and obsolete type of computer memory

      

    • Nixie tube – Electronic numeric display device
  • Plasma lamp – Type of electrodeless gas-discharge lamp
  • Xenon flash lamp – Incoherent light sourcePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets

Electrochemiluminescence[edit]

Electrochemiluminescence is light resulting from an electrochemical reaction.

Electroluminescence[edit]

Electroluminescence is light resulting from an electric current being passed through a substance.

• Light-emitting diode – Semiconductor and solid-state light source
• Organic light-emitting diode – Diode that emits light from an organic compound
• Polymer light-emitting diode – Diode that emits light from an organic compoundPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• AMOLED, Active matrix OLED - typical OLED addressing scheme for color OLED displays. (Display content) Has to be periodically refreshed to maintain picture, as opposed to for example Electronic paper – Display technology for use in mobile devices and televisions
• Light-emitting electrochemical cell – solid-state device that generates light from an electric currentPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
• Electroluminescent wire – Capacitive light source in the form of a wire
• Field-induced polymer electroluminescent
• Laser – Device which emits light via optical amplification

  

  • Chemical laser – Laser that obtains energy from chemical reactions
  • Dye laser – Equipment using an organic dye to emit coherent light
  • Free-electron laser – Laser using electron beam in vacuum as gain medium
  • Gas dynamic laser – Laser based on differences in relaxation velocities of molecular vibrational states
  • Gas laser – Laser in which electricity is discharged through gas
  • Ion laser – Type of gas laser
  • Laser diode – Semiconductor laser
    • Laser excited phosphor – Devices and processes that produce lightPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Long distance beam light
  • Metal-vapor laser
  • Nonlinear optics – Branch of physics
  • Quantum well laser – Laser diode in which the active region is so narrow that quantum confinement occurs
  • Quantum dot laser – Semiconductor laser that uses quantum dots as the active laser medium
  • Ruby laser – Solid-state laser
  • Solid-state laser – Laser which uses a solid gain medium

Mechanoluminescence[edit]

Mechanoluminescence is light resulting from a mechanical action on a solid.

• Triboluminescence, light generated when bonds in a material are broken when that material is scratched, crushed, or rubbed
• Fractoluminescence, light generated when bonds in certain crystals are broken by fractures
• Piezoluminescence, light produced by the action of pressure on certain solids
• Sonoluminescence, light resulting from imploding bubbles in a liquid when excited by sound

Photoluminescence[edit]

Photoluminescence is light resulting from absorption of photons.

• Fluorescence, the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation
• Phosphorescence, the delayed re-emission of light by substance that has absorbed it

Radioluminescence[edit]

Radioluminescence is light resulting from bombardment by ionizing radiation.

Thermoluminescence[edit]

Thermoluminescence is light from the re-emission of absorbed energy when a substance is heated.

See also[edit]

• List of reflected light sources
• Luminous efficacy
• Photometry (optics)

References[edit]

/https://www.britannica.com*/

External links[edit]

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• A CD spectrometer Color spectrographs of common light sources