Baily's beads
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Bai·ly's beads
(bā′lēz)pl.n.
Dots or patches of sunlight visible along the edge of the darkened moon's disk in the seconds before and after totality during a full solar eclipse, caused by sunlight passing through valleys in the moon's uneven topography.
[After Francis Baily (1774-1844), British astronomer who first observed them in 1836.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Baily's beads
(ˈbeɪlɪz)pl n
(Astronomy) the brilliant points of sunlight that appear briefly around the moon, just before and after a total eclipse
[C19: named after Francis Baily (died 1844), English astronomer who described them]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
Bai′ly's beads′
(ˈbeɪ liz)n.pl.
spots of sunlight encircling the moon immediately before and after a total solar eclipse.
[1865–70; after Francis Baily (1774–1844), English astronomer]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.