GE NA-1 Warming Up

This is the warming-up sequence of my NA-1 lamp. Looking at other photos, usually when they first strike they show only an argon purple color, and then slowly turn sodium yellow. This has not been the case for my lamp. I assume this is because of it's age, as it somtimes take 10 seconds or more to strike, probably from cathode wear. By that time the hot filament has probably evaporated some sodium into the bulb already.

As described before, once it is warmed up it is difficult to see the electrode structures inside due to the opaque sodium plasma. The lamp emits a very nice glow that is pretty relaxing, I could look at it for ages, though the rated lifespan of only 500 hours discourages that.

I have put two pieces of float glass agaisnt each other in the light from this to see the interference patterns which was quite cool. I might try and set up Young's slits to see that as well. And of course I have seen the effects of the monochromatic light on colored objects. This is my only LPS light source and I am glad it is something this special!