Diamond Rings and Baily's Beads
Image Credit &
Copyright:
Wang, Letian
Near the March 20 equinox the cold clear sky over Longyearbyen,
Norway, planet Earth held an engaging sight, a
total eclipse of the Sun.
The New Moon's silhouette at stages just
before
and after the
three minute long total phase seems to sprout glistening diamonds
and bright beads in this time lapse
composite of the geocentric celestial event.
The last and first glimpses of
the solar disk with the lunar limb surrounded by the glow of the Sun's
inner corona give the impression of a
diamond ring in the sky.
At the boundaries
of totality, sunlight streaming through
valleys in the irregular terrain along the Moon's edge,
produces an effect known as
Baily's Beads,
named after English astronomer Francis Baily who championed an explanation
for the phenomenon in 1836.
This sharp composition also shows off the array of pinkish
solar prominences
lofted above the edge of the eclipsed Sun.