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Visual, Photographic and Photoelectric Detection of Shadow Bands at the March 7, 1970, Solar Eclipse

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Abstract

JUST before and after the total phase of a solar eclipse, faint light and dark bands, resembling interference or diffraction fringes, move across the surface of the Earth. These “shadow bands” were first reported as early as 1842 (ref. 1). Work by Feldman2 indicated that the orientation of the bands was related to the shape of the shadow on the surface of the Earth, but many of the data were difficult to interpret. Paulton3 has described a screen with which visual observations can be made with some degree of accuracy and consistency, and a screen of this type was used by two of us (M. E. H. and R. D. B.) at the eclipse of November 12, 1966, in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil4. Paulton5 has reviewed the visual work done at the 1963 and 1966 eclipses.

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References

  1. Chambers, G. F., The Story of Eclipses (Appleton, 1902).

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  2. Popular Astronomy (April 1938).

  3. Paulton, E. M., Sky and Telescope (June 1963).

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  4. Sky and Telescope, 147 (March 1967).

  5. Paulton, E. M., Sky and Telescope, 132 (February 1970).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, 47306

    MALCOLM E. HULTS, ROGER D. BURGESS, DANIEL A. MITCHELL & DUANE W. WARN

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  1. MALCOLM E. HULTS
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  2. ROGER D. BURGESS
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  3. DANIEL A. MITCHELL
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  4. DUANE W. WARN
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HULTS, M., BURGESS, R., MITCHELL, D. et al. Visual, Photographic and Photoelectric Detection of Shadow Bands at the March 7, 1970, Solar Eclipse. Nature 231, 255–258 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/231255a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/231255a0

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