# Cen 2014: Observation of the optical and spectral characteristics of ball lightning > Jianyong Cen, Ping Yuan, Simin Xue, 2014. 15 records on Mysteries Department cite it. The only spectrum of a natural ball lightning. Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D409VFM7MZ3/observation-of-the-optical-and-spectral-characteristics-of Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) --- [Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Ball lightning](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning)Cen 2014 **0** # Observation of the optical and spectral characteristics of ball lightning Jianyong Cen, Ping Yuan, Simin Xue, 2014. _Physical Review Letters 112, 035001_. Reports a ball lightning recorded by two slitless spectrographs with high-speed cameras at a distance of 0.9 km, generated by a cloud-to-ground strike and moving horizontally; documents the evolution of size, colour and intensity and finds emission from soil elements throughout its life. **Ball lightning** ArticleCopy of **[Slitless spectra and high-speed frames of the 2012 Qinghai ball lightning](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/artifacts/ART0D40AHYC0B5J/slitless-spectra-and-high-speed-frames-of-the-2012-qinghai)** doi: **[10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.035001](https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.035001)** Checked against the original0 ## What it's used for here The only spectrum of a natural ball lightning. ## Cited by on this site 15 records [Yes; it was a ball of vaporised soil elements sustained after the stroke.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/answers/ANS0D40ACAP3GBV/yes-it-was-a-ball-of-vaporised-soil-elements-sustained-after) Answer ANS [Digital video of the 2012 Qinghai ball lightning](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/artifacts/ART0D40AJXM1WK7/digital-video-of-the-2012-qinghai-ball-lightning) ART [Slitless spectra and high-speed frames of the 2012 Qinghai ball lightning](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/artifacts/ART0D40AHYC0B5J/slitless-spectra-and-high-speed-frames-of-the-2012-qinghai) ART [Digital video of the 2012 Qinghai ball lightning: photo](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/copies/CPY0D40AKD811QN/digital-video-of-the-2012-qinghai-ball-lightning-photo) CPY [Slitless spectra and high-speed frames of the 2012 Qinghai ball lightning: document](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/copies/CPY0D40AJ663FSH/slitless-spectra-and-high-speed-frames-of-the-2012-qinghai) CPY [Slitless spectra and high-speed video of the July 2012 Qinghai ball lightning](https://mysteriesdept.com/datasets/DAT0D40AG7P7D4D/slitless-spectra-and-high-speed-video-of-the-july-2012) Dataset DAT [Soil lines are present for the entire lifetime.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/evidence/EVD0D40ACJG69Z1/soil-lines-are-present-for-the-entire-lifetime) Evidence EVD [The 2012 ball formed at a cloud-to-ground strike point.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/evidence/EVD0D40AERT7MMJ/the-2012-ball-formed-at-a-cloud-to-ground-strike-point) Evidence EVD [The 2012 ball was recorded by instruments at 0.9 km.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/evidence/EVD0D40A7Y25N42/the-2012-ball-was-recorded-by-instruments-at-0-9-km) Evidence EVD [The 2012 spectrum shows Si, Fe and Ca lines throughout the ball's life.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/evidence/EVD0D40A9543S6J/the-2012-spectrum-shows-si-fe-and-ca-lines-throughout-the) Evidence EVD [Two spectrographs with high-speed cameras recorded a ball for about a second after a ground stroke at 0.9 km.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/evidence/EVD0D40A6F64B1S/two-spectrographs-with-high-speed-cameras-recorded-a-ball) Evidence EVD [Cen, Yuan and Xue publish the spectrum in Physical Review Letters](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/events/EVT0D40A4120X82/cen-yuan-and-xue-publish-the-spectrum-in-physical-review) EVT [Ball lightning](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning) The mystery article MYS [Does the 2012 Qinghai recording show a ball of burning soil vapour?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/questions/QST0D40A5QR3YCV/does-the-2012-qinghai-recording-show-a-ball-of-burning-soil) Question QST [Is ball lightning a physical object, distinct from afterimages, hallucinations and misperceived ordinary lightning?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/ball-lightning/questions/QST0D40A5846ZE5/is-ball-lightning-a-physical-object-distinct-from) Question QST ## Cite it ``` Cen, J., Yuan, P., & Xue, S. (2014). Observation of the optical and spectral characteristics of ball lightning. Physical Review Letters 112, 035001. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.035001 ``` [Find it at doi.org](https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.035001) Key **SRC** 0D409VFM7MZ3 Kind Journal article Rights The publisher's Kept 27 Oct 2026, for editors Checked Against the published article Added by [apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo) The record Bibliographic records are CC0. Take this one as CSL-JSON, BibTeX or RIS. [CSL-JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D409VFM7MZ3/observation-of-the-optical-and-spectral-characteristics-of/csl.json)