Solar eclipses as an astrophysical laboratory

Terrestrial atmospheric responses on Svalbard to the 20 March 2015 Arctic total solar eclipse under extreme conditions

This article reports on the near-surface atmospheric response at the High Arctic site of Svalbard, latitude 78° N, as a result of abrupt changes in solar insolation during the 20 March 2015 equinox total solar eclipse and notifies the atmospheric science community of the availability of a rare dataset. Svalbard was central in the path of totality, and had completely clear skies. Measurements of shaded air temperature and atmospheric pressure show only weak, if any, responses to the reduced insolation. A minimum in the air temperature at 1.5 m above the ground occurred starting 2 min following the end of totality, though this drop was only slightly beyond the observed variability for the midday period. Eclipse-produced variations in surface pressure, if present, were less than 0.3 hPa.This article is part of the themed issue 'Atmospheric effects of solar eclipses stimulated by the 2015 UK eclipse'.

Art on the Nanoscale and Beyond

Methods of forming and patterning materials at the nano- and microscales are finding increased use as a medium of artistic expression, and as a vehicle for communicating scientific advances to a broader audience. While sharing many attributes of other art forms, miniaturized art enables the direct engagement of sensory aspects such as sight and touch for materials and structures that are otherwise invisible to the eye. The historical uses of nano-/microscale materials and imaging techniques in arts and sciences are presented. The motivations to create artwork at small scales are discussed, and representations in scientific literature and exhibitions are explored. Examples are presented using semiconductors, microfluidics, and nanomaterials as the artistic media; these utilized techniques including micromachining, focused ion beam milling, two-photon polymerization, and bottom-up nanostructure growth. Finally, the technological factors that limit the implementation of artwork at miniature scales are identified, and potential future directions are discussed. As research marches toward even smaller length scales, innovative and engaging visualizations and artistic endeavors will have growing implications on education, communication, policy making, media activism, and public perception of science and technology.

Coronal streamers revealed during solar eclipses: Seeing is not believing, and pictures can lie

For those fortunate enough to have personally witnessed and photographed the visible corona surrounding the Sun during a solar eclipse, pictures are usually a let down for not living up to the visual view. After 150 years of investigating the corona, we understand it more fully and now know this difference to be real. The difference stems from our inability to either see or image the true distribution of simultaneous brightness because of its large dynamic range (eg, Rodriguez, Woods, 2008 Digital Image Processing, Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall). Brightness in the corona is unprecedented, as it falls by three orders of magnitude over a distance of only one solar radius from the Sun.