Snik Frans, Bos Steven P, Brackenhoff Stefanie A, Doelman David S, Por Emiel H, Bettonvil Felix, Rodenhuis Michiel, Vorobiev Dmitry, Eshelman Laura M, Shaw Joseph A
Appl Opt. 2020 Jul 20;59(21):F71-F77. doi: 10.1364/AO.391814.
We report the results of polarimetric observations of the total solar eclipse of 21 August 2017 from Rexburg, Idaho (USA). We use three synchronized DSLR cameras with polarization filters oriented at 0°, 60°, and 120° to provide high-dynamic-range RGB polarization images of the corona and surrounding sky. We measure tangential coronal polarization and vertical sky polarization, both as expected. These observations provide detailed detections of polarization neutral points above and below the eclipsed Sun where the coronal polarization is canceled by the sky polarization. We name these special polarization neutral points after Minnaert and Van de Hulst.
