Baily's beads

English

Etymology

In honour of Francis Baily, who first fully explained the phenomenon in 1836.

Noun

Baily's beads pl (plural only)

  1. A feature of total solar eclipses. As the moon "grazes" by the sun during a solar eclipse, the rugged lunar limb topography allows beads of sunlight to shine through in some places and not in others.

Translations

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