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[Nicole Sharp]

Just starting to go through the nuclear radiation dosimetry from the Total Solar Eclipse but my initial assessment is the same as for the Annular Solar Eclipse: there does not appear to be any significant change in background radiation during totality or annularity.

 

However, there does appear to be a slight increase in background radiation during both totality and annularity.  Without more data from additional dosimeters during totality and annularity, my opinion is that this isn't a significant change but it is curious.  If it is a real phenomenon, then I might speculate that the rapid cooling during annularity and totality perhaps releases some kind of radiogenic gas or particulates from the ground.  If this is the case, then the same phenomenon might also occur at Sunset.

 

The numbers below are the averages of the total number of sieverts absorbed each minute (the average of the minute-by-minute sums).  A more accurate assessment would be in counts per second (CPS) instead of nanosieverts per minute (nSv/min) but I will need more time to go through the second-by-second data counts.  The number of sieverts are estimated from the radiation counts by using an energy-compensated Geiger-Mueller tube.

 

From Jay Peak Resort, Jay, Orleans, Vermont (elevation 592 meters, latitude +45 degrees, April 8):

 

1.88 nSv/min = pre-eclipse (12:51 PM to 2:15 PM)

 

1.84 nSv/min = partiality ingress (2:15 PM to 3:27 PM)

 

2.03 nSv/min = totality (3:27 PM to 3:30 PM)

 

1.88 nSv/min = partiality egress (3:30 PM to 4:38 PM)

 

2.00 nSv/min = post-eclipse (4:38 PM to 4:55 PM)

 

From Jefferson School Park, Hobbs, Lea, New Mexico (elevation 1089 meters, latitude +33 degrees, October 14):

 

2.13 nSv/min = partiality ingress (9:26 AM to 10:41 AM)

 

2.20 nSv/min = annularity (10:41 AM to 10:46 AM)

 

2.04 nSv/min = partiality egress (10:46 AM to 12:19 PM)

 

2.06 nSv/min = post-eclipse (12:19 PM to 12:27 PM)

Edited by Nicole Sharp, 02 May 2024 - 04:26 AM.

[Nicole Sharp]

According to Microsoft Bing Copilot, plants produce carbon dioxide at night when photosynthesis from Sunlight stops.  So a slight increase in background radiation could theoretically be caused by an increase in carbon-14 dioxide from plant life along the eclipse path.  Not sure exactly how annularity affects plant respiration though since there is still some Sunlight then.  The two locations are quite different also, with the dosimeter in Hobbs being set up on a warm grassy field versus the dosimeter in Jay being set up on a muddy snowcapped mountainside.

 

http://scienceline.u...key.php?key=826

Edited by Nicole Sharp, 02 May 2024 - 05:04 AM.