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its discovery, and development has been focused on higher quality parameters. Th e up-and-coming energy source for
the next generation is the fuel cell, be it for the laptop or car, though this is not comparable with the Baghdad bat-tery. sure during pumping and quickly seals tight. Larger chambers can be made of austenitic chrome-nickel steel (CrNi or
It would be nice if archaeologists could fi nd something comparable to a fuel cell someday. Or has it already been found stainless steel, a nonmagnetic iron solid solution). [10]
and is sitting in a collection somewhere, not recognized as such—like the “Baghdad battery” and the “Antikythera b) Electrical Values
mechanism” were? According to state-ments by an archaeology assistant I know, some archaeological fi nds quickly Th e original device allows an adjustable direct current of up to 4000 volts. Some of our experi-ments used up to 1000 V.
disappear in a re-pository if they contradict current archaeological theories and opinions. Th e main supply for our tests was an external power source of up to 600 V, and we did not use any current higher than
Th e Dendera “Light Bulb” 250 mA. Th e polarity of the voltage was re-versible.
Returning to the Dendera light bulb, as it is generally called, in German the term is literally “light pear,” due to the light c) Vacuum Pumps
bulb’s historic shape resembling the fruit. Th is historically based term, however, should be replaced by the—technically Experiments of this kind require only a rotary vane pump (RVP), which can generate a stronger vacuum than is actuall
more accurate—term “incandescent light.” Th is light has already been described several times, by W. Garn, P. Krassa, required in just a few minutes. Admitting gas through a needle valve al-lows the pressure to be adjusted to the precise
R. Habeck, K. Dona, Prof. R. Ose and W. Bauer [3,4,5,6,7,8], for example. We should actually be talking about a glow- level desired. If necessary, the glass bulb can be completely evacuated, which will cause the pump connector to melt,
discharge lamp. Th e various publications have explained its technology as such, except for one article in PM Magazine resealing the hole needed to create the vacuum—like that in the incandescent light. When a turbo or oil diff usion pump is
in 2003 [9]. An incandescent light glows when a current fl ow heats a metal fi lament (tungsten). Th e tungsten fi lament used as a high-vacuum pump (11), the rotary vane pump provides the pre-vacuum. We can plot these vacuum values and
is highly resistant to heat, with a melting point of 3400°C. Th e drawback to this kind of light is that only fi ve percent of electrical values in a graph.
the electrical energy is converted into light and the rest into heat. Th e Glow Light’s Colors and Forms
Th e basic principle of the glow-discharge lamp—it has two electrodes in a partially evacuated container—has been ap- From what has been said so far, it can be concluded that the Dendera light, as a glow-discharge lamp, could produce
plied in our modern fl uorescent lamp. Th e luminescent material is the white or colored layer on the inner glass, which only a dim light. With typically about 60–80 watts of electrical energy in-put—as in my experiments—only a moderate
is excited by the charge carriers. Th is lamp does convert 20 percent of the electrical energy conducted through it into luminescence was perceptible from the glow light, also called plasma. Th e light phenomena—comparable to the Northern
light, which is also the basis of the term “energy-saving light” in smaller applications. An even greater effi ciency of Lights—can easily be ex-plained or demonstrated in this way. Th e gases (gas type) aff ect both the brightness and the color
around 30 percent is achieved in sodium vapor lamps (other metals and noble gases are also used), which are less well (see Table 1).
suited for general lighting due to their yellow light, but are good for growing plants. As with other lamps, the remain-
ing energy is still converted to heat, which is distributed over a larger area (always with ballast) than in an incandes- Table 1: Gases and their data
cent light. Th at is why you can touch a fl uorescent lamp while it is operating, without burning your fi ngers. Gas Abbreviation Atomic number Atomic weight Color when fl uorescing
Because the fi lament in a light bulb may not come into contact with oxygen (which would cause the metal to oxidize
and burn through in the truest sense of the word), it is suspended in a high vacuum—air thinned down by a factor of Helium He 2 4 pink
1,000,000,000 plus a portion of inert gas—which pro-tects it from burning through. A discharge lamp, on the other Nitrogen N2 7 14 violet-blue
hand, requires between a hundredth and a thousandth (1–10 mbar) of standard pressure (1000 mbar) —and thus Oxygen O2 8 16 red-green
considerably less vacuum and less technical eff ort. At this pressure, the gas/air molecules and/or atoms have suffi - Argon Ar 18 40 violet
ciently long free space and become ionized by contact with the electrical voltage. Aft er ignition, the operating voltage is Air N2 + O2 + Ar + CO2 + Ne +H2 violet
lower—around 200–300 volts. In any case, discharge lamps require a se-ries resistor, which limits the potential power.
In fl uorescent lamps on AC power, the fl ow con-trol fulfi lls two functions:
1. In conjunction with the fuse (breaker contact), it provides the higher voltage required for ig-nition. Th e gases’ diff erent colors come from their electron shell structure, as every shell has a diff erent energy level, which is
2. While the lamp is burning, the fl ow control delivers AC resistance to limit the current in the lamp, which is expressed in its color at diff erent excited states. We can study this same eff ect in the Northern Lights: energetic excitation
why each lamp type has its own fl ow control. causes electrons to leave their orbits. When another electron jumps into the vacant space (recombines), a light quantum is
In the laboratory, I conducted a series of experiments that should increase our understanding of the Dendera light emitted. But this event is not visible to the human eye unless a large quantity of these light quanta are emitted.
bulb. Image 1, based on the Dendera image, shows the ignition and burn volt-age of a discharge path (between two Luminescence is also dependent on pressure. Th e images shown here (Nos. 3, 4, 5) were photo-graphed under the infl u-
diff erently shaped electrodes) dependent on the pressure. In the case of direct current (DC), the resistors must be ence of the medium of air, whereby the pressure in the fi rst photograph was 0.2 mbar, 0.5 mbar in the second photo, and 2
sequentially arranged to limit the current. Such a “lamp” can quickly require 50–100 watts of electrical energy without mbar in the third photo. At lower pressure, the light becomes darker/thinner and broader because there are less fl uoresc-
it becoming notice-ably “visible.” In the laboratory, this glow is usually the last step in cleaning substrates to be coated ing particles in the cham-bers and the free path lengths are longer. Th e glow is equally broad along the wire—at least in
in a high vacuum. the experiments I conducted.
Bright aluminum foil improves the luminescence through refl ection. Th e square magnet visible in image 6 above best
Technical Parameters infl uences the luminous eff ect in accordance with its form at pressures under 1 mbar.
a) Vacuum chamber Th e brightness concentrates in the area formed by the magnetic fi eld, and the edge remains dark. Television tubes func-
Th e size of the glass bulb (receiving or vacuum chamber) must be suffi cient to withstand an ex-ternal pressure about tion along the same principle, though in a high vacuum. Image 7: Th e glow colors of pure oxygen (O2) (see image 8), pure
1000 times higher. In the glass vacuum chamber shown in image 2 [diameter 300 mm, height 275 mm, wall thickness 6 nitrogen (N2) and “normal” air are clearly diff er-ent. Th e photos also show that the pressure of the nitrogen is less than
mm (compared with 500 mm height)], the internal pressure can be reduced by more than one billion times; in addi- that of the oxygen, be-cause the luminescence in the glass bulb fi lled with pure nitrogen is broader. With the application
tion, there are protective covers of perforated metal plate. Th e glass jars I used have withstood this level of pressure for of alternating current, all electrodes in the chamber light up more or less, because the potentials split and a concentration
over ten years. Th ey have a volume of 16 liters and 32 liters. appears at the opposing tips due to the higher fi eld strength.
Between the dome and the vacuum chamber plate, there is a sealing ring that is pushed down by the external air pres- Ritual Acts
38 Legendary Times Magazine Vol. 11, No. 3 & 4 of 4 Vol. 11, No. 1 & 2 of 4 Legvendary Times Magazine 39