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. (astronomy) 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

Baily's beads

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 倍里珠 (zh), 貝里珠串

• Japanese: ベイリー・ビーズ