X-Ray Monday

Continuing the theme of X-Ray images on a Monday morning, here’s another. This is probably easy to guess at. If you look at the full size, you can see there is quite a lit going on in the device. More information under the cut.

CCFL

It’s a cold cathode fluorescent light-bulb.  On the left side is the bayonet fitting that goes into the socket, inside the metal shroud you can see a fuse, then a bunch of electronics. Next is the spiral glass tube where the light is emitted. You can make out the thin tungsten filaments that strike the discharge in the tube, and also a couple of spots of mercury (small, very dark spots) adhering to the inside of the tube. The mercury in the discharge produces UV light which the phosphors coating the inside of the glass tube turn into visible light.