How bright is the brightest light we are able to produce artificially?

How long can it be sustained?

What would the rational be behind producing such a bright light?

✅ Answers

? Favorite Answer

A carbon arc search light ( like they use when a business opens )

is 470 million candle power.

which means you can read a newspaper in the dark from a mile away with that light.

it’s the brightest I think.

If anyone has one over 470million candle power then they win. Maybe experimental I don’t know.

But commercial it’s the carbon arc light

Good question though 🙂

Source(s): my dad

Brightest Light In The World

Source(s): https://shrink.im/akZ

I read an article in a scientific magazine about a gas discharge tube that can produce a sustained 20 megawatts and can vapourise a car. But even very weak lasers like a 15 milliwatt pointer used in classrooms, because the light is a narrow beam, are much brighter than you’d expect. A 1 milliwatt laser, although only using as much power as a torch bulb, can do eye damage. Back in the days of the manned moon missions, a reflector shaped like an ice cube tray was left on the lunar surface. This sort of mirror reflects the light beam back to where it came from. An Earth-based laser beam was shone at it, making a circle of light about 3km. wide on the moon around the reflector, and the reflected beam was easily detected back on Earth. The idea of the experiment was to accurately measure the distance to the Moon. Todaylasers exist that can produce a femtosecond flash. That’s a thousandth of a millionth of a millionth of a second, but for the duration of the flash, the laser is putting out far more power than all the power stations on Earth combined, and concentrating it all into a narrow beam. This is almost enough power to start a thermonuclear reaction.

I though I once read that the spark off a match head is not only the brightest light recorded, but also many times hotter than the sun itself.

However, that is just speculating… the following are the FACTS of the luxor lamp:

The tip of the pyramid contains a fixed-position spotlight that points directly upward – it is the brightest beam in the world, and is visible from anywhere in the Las Vegas valley at night, and can be seen at flight level from above Los Angeles, California, over 275 miles (440 km) away. In the spring, the bright light attracts huge numbers of moths into the light beam, creating a phenomenon that has been likened to snow. The beam is currently powered by 39 Xenon lamps operating at 7,0 watts each at an hourly operating cost of $53 (lamps, repairs, and electricity costs). The beam’s output is rated at 41.5 billion candlepower. So 2 questions in once, the Luxor is the brightest BEAM in the world, and the lamp is 41.5 BILLION candle power.

41.5 billion in UK,Germany: 41’5’0’0’0

41.5 billion in US,France: 41’5’0’0

Im pretty certain wikipedia is using the american definition of a billion.

Source(s): www.wikipedia.com

You may get a variety of answers to this question because the term brightness has different meaning to different people. A common technical definition takes into account the total power of the light source divided by the (mode) area over which it is propagating.

By this definition, lasers, which are directional, are much brighter than lamps, etc. For example, a 1 Watt laser is MUCH brighter than a 1 Watt light bulb.

I’d guess that the brightest lasers are the ones used by the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore that are used to initiate fusion reactions. Another possibility would be the lasers used by the military to destory missiles. In either case, the laser would only operate for seconds at most before cooling down due to the fantastic amount of heat generated.

Source(s): http://www.llnl.gov/str/Petawatt.html
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/abl/

a 60 watt bulb? that’s hilarious. What about a 1 watt bulb? Still nothing. Still crappy. Incandescent bulbs suck, you can never say a 60 watt bulb or 1 or any watt incandescent is the brightest. I really had to laugh at that one.

Halogen bulbs are more efficient than incandecents… But they are not the most efficient bulb. HID (High Intensity Discharge) lights are more efficient if you are talking about brightness, and efficency. They are the lights used in street lamps and indoor growing applications.

HID lighting is way way way more efficent than a halogen lamp, especially if you are comparing lumens.

I’ve never seen a laser light before, but I’m sure that must be quite bright. But when talking about bulbs, HID lights are some of the brightest and most efficient measuring lumens per sq. watt. HID lights consist of either a HPS (High Pressure Sodium) or MH (Metal Halide).

The HPS is an orangish light, and the MH is a white color light, which is determined by the color temp (Kelvin)

MH is usually over 60K and HPS is usually under 25K.

The watts of HID lights range from small wattages, and up to and above 10 watts.

I happen to be a physics major.

A laser beam is a light that has the emits light rays in phase, so the intensity is constructive like waves in a pool. This will give you the greatest intensity, but the beam is typically unidirectional.

A large laser has more power and can be used as a weapon but might have particular industrial applications such as drilling and/or cutting.

A big lamp type light could be constructed to any size I suppose, just by upping the power and bulb size. The rational would be to illuminate a dark place.