Discussion: NASA Balloons Study 2023 and 2024 Solar Eclipses
The cited sources give this account: NASA is conducting a balloon project to study solar eclipses in 2023 and 2024, launching weather and engineering balloons to capture timelapse images. The shadows during an eclipse form due to light traveling in straight lines, creating crescent shapes on the ground, similar to a pinhole camera effect.
The cited sources give this account: NASA is conducting a balloon project to study the 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses, launching weather and engineering balloons to capture timelapse images. The shadows during an eclipse form due to the light traveling in straight lines, creating crescent shapes on the ground.
The shadows during an eclipse form due to the light traveling in straight lines, creating crescent shapes on the ground. This effect is similar to a pinhole camera, where the edges of the shadow stack up into a gradient, resulting in blurry shadows in one direction and sharp shadows in another.
During an eclipse, the crescents on the ground point the opposite way to the crescents in the sky. All cameras actually work like this, flipping your image. The shadows around the narrator's hand become sharper when turned 90 degrees, demonstrating the pinhole camera effect.
Published as an Opinion post because the available evidence does not establish a consistent factual verdict. Factual claims remain unverified or disputed; this classification does not turn factual assertions into opinions or establish their truth.
15 assessed statements · 0 cited passages. This stamp summarizes the assessments below, not every sentence or the creator’s trustworthiness.
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Opinion
NASA is conducting a balloon project to study the 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses, launching weather and engineering balloons to capture timelapse images.
Independent evidence assessment is pending.
unverified
Opinion
The shadows during an eclipse form due to the light traveling in straight lines, creating crescent shapes on the ground.
Independent evidence assessment is pending.
unverified
Opinion
This effect is similar to a pinhole camera, where the edges of the shadow stack up into a gradient, resulting in blurry shadows in one direction and sharp shadows in another.
Independent evidence assessment is pending.
unverified
Opinion
During an eclipse, the crescents on the ground point the opposite way to the crescents in the sky. All cameras actually work like this, flipping your image.
Independent evidence assessment is pending.
unverified
Opinion
The shadows around the narrator's hand become sharper when turned 90 degrees, demonstrating the pinhole camera effect.
Independent evidence assessment is pending.
unverified
Opinion
But to get this effect, you need the point to be rather small, it's like a pinhole camera.
Independent evidence assessment is pending.
unverified
Opinion
That's why all the spaces between leaves and a tree are perfect. During an eclipse, they all become crescents.
Independent evidence assessment is pending.
unverified
Opinion
And there's another crazy effect. Watch my hand. The shadows around my fingers are quite fuzzy, but if I turn my hand 90 degrees, those same shadows suddenly become much sharper.
Independent evidence assessment is pending.
unverified
Opinion
well, those edges start to stack up into a gradient, and that's what makes the blur. And during an eclipse, you're left with this sliver shape.
Independent evidence assessment is pending.
unverified
Opinion
In the tall direction, it stays roughly the same width as normal. That's why in this direction you still get blurry shadows.
Independent evidence assessment is pending.
unverified
Opinion
But change your orientation 90 degrees and now, it's much more narrow. So now it's like a point source again.
Independent evidence assessment is pending.
unverified
Opinion
That's why the shadows in this direction are perfectly sharp. So we're a few minutes from totality.
Independent evidence assessment is pending.
unverified
Opinion
And so you really have to be, you know, looking for them and aware that they're going to exist.
Independent evidence assessment is pending.
unverified
Opinion
They're sometimes called snake shadows because of how they move. So you're talking about seconds before totality that you'll see these shadow bands occur so maybe 20s, 10s before totality.
Evidence search unavailable. Claims remain unverified; background research can retry.
research-failed
Opinion
And, what we're going to do is we're going to hold up this sheet, and what we're looking for are these long moving shadows.
Evidence search unavailable. Claims remain unverified; background research can retry.
