Polarisation of Light from the Sky during the Solar Eclipse of January 24

Abstract

DURING the total eclipse on January 24, I was at New Haven, Connecticut, and thus very close to the middle line of the track of totality. For a portion of the period of totality I made a somewhat hasty survey of the state of polarisation of the light scattered by the sky, using for the purpose a Savart plate and Nicol prism. I was only able to cover the eastern sky from the zenith to the horizon stretching from north through east to south, and I was unfortunately not able to determine the plane of polarisation of the light scattered from the various parts of the sky. What I was able to note, however, with certainty was that there was no marked variation in the percentage of polarisation as one explored the eastward half of the sky—that is, there was no trace of the familiar maximum noted when the sun is not in eclipse.