Baily’s Beads
On May 3, 1715, astronomer Edmund Halley observed a total lunar eclipse of the sun in London England. At the moment of totality, he observed an arc of uneven light around the disc of the moon just before it covered the sun. The points or beads of light at the edge of moon’s shadow lasted only a few seconds.
Over a hundred years later, astronomer Francis Baily described the phenomenon with increased precision from his own viewing of a lunar eclipse of the sun.
Baily realized the sun’s light was shining across the moon’s surface through valleys and craters, revealing itself at the moon’s edge in a brilliant, shimmering arc or string. This phenomenon has come to be called Baily’s Beads.
Look for it at your next lunar eclipse of the sun!
B Bondar