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Magnetic observations of the solar eclipse of 23 October 1976 in Australia

Abstract

SOLAR eclipses may cause geomagnetic effects by disturbing the flow of electric currents in the ionosphere1,2, and a number of observations of this phenomenon have been made in recent years3,4. To monitor any magnetic effects of the eclipse of 23 October 1976, we operated recording magnetometers at 10 sites in central and eastern Australia (Fig. 1); these instruments were in addition to the regular observatories of the Bureau of Mineral Resources near Perth and Melbourne. We present here a preliminary analysis of the declination variations recorded in the path of totality at stations H (Millicent, S.A.) and J (Merimbula, N.S.W.).

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LILLEY, F., WOODS, D. Magnetic observations of the solar eclipse of 23 October 1976 in Australia. Nature 266, 823–824 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/266823a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/266823a0

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