Shadow Bands

Shadow bands are often seen for only a few seconds just before and just after totality, when only a tiny crescent of the Sun’s bright disk is visible, It is generally though that refraction of the light from this very thin source by the Earth’s atmosphere creates a pattern of light and dark lines, and the motion of the air makes them ripple and move. As the atmosphere is constantly changing, they are both fleeting and subtle. We were lucky enough to catch them, both with our dedicated camera looking at a white surface, and also with our ‘human reaction’ camera that showed the surface of the parking lot. The contrast of these movies has been enhanced to make the bands more obvious.