[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-636251-105":59,"doc-detail-636251-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","the-optics-of-shadow-bands-preprint-version-2","The Optics of Shadow Bands - Preprint version 2","","Shadow bands are transient, rippling light-and-dark patterns that can appear immediately before and after totality during a solar eclipse. Despite centuries of reports, their physical origin is unresolved. This preprint proposes a geometric-optical solution in which the Sun’s extended structure creates a celestial analogue of Young’s double-slit experiment. The model combines solar limb geometry, atmospheric propagation effects, and a wave-based formulation to generate quantitative predictions for fringe width, spacing, and motion direction, explaining their sensitivity to viewing conditions.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-optics-of-shadow-bands-preprint-version-2/636251/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-optics-of-shadow-bands-preprint-version-2/636251.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"supergirl","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-10-22",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":24},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What are shadow bands in a solar eclipse?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Shadow bands are transient fluctuations of light and dark on the ground that can appear just before and after totality during a solar eclipse.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What physical mechanism does the preprint propose?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It develops a geometric-optical, wave-based model that treats the two bright solar regions near the verge of totality as effective coherent sources, producing an interference-like pattern analogous to a double-slit experiment.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Which observational features does the model aim to explain?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The analysis is designed to address temporal evolution, directional motion, altitude dependence, and sensitivity to surface texture observed in eclipse records.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},636251,1792832783,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":24,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},962088121634,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","arXiv :2606 .28366v2 [physics .pop-ph] 2 Jul 2026  \nThe Optics of Shadow Bands  \nBranko Sretenovi´c  \nIndependent researcher, Serbia  \ne-mail: [Mathallica] [mathallica3@outlook.com](mathallica3@outlook.com)  \nPreprint version 2  \n© 2026 Branko Sretenovi´c  \nJuly 3, 2026  \nAbstract  \nShadow bands are transient, rippling patterns of light and dark that may appear in moments before and after totality in a solar eclipse. Despite centuries of reports, their physical origin has remained unresolved. This preprint develops a geometric-optical solution in which the Sun’s extended structure produces a celestial analogue of Young’s double-slit experiment, generating an interference-like intensity pattern on the ground, modulated by Earth-atmosphere effects. The analysis combines solar limb geometry, atmospheric propagation effects, and a wave-based formulation that yields quantitative predictions for fringe width and spacing. The resulting model accounts for the principal observational features of shadow bands and clarifies why the phenomenon is both elusive and highly sensitive to viewing conditions. A more detailed and pedagogical exposition of this framework appears in the author’s book The Optics of Shadow Bands (2025) .  \nKEYWORDS: shadow bands, solar eclipse, double-slit interference, fringe formation, wave propagation, solar limb darkening, geometric optical model  \nIntroduction  \nShadow bands are transient, centimeter-scale fluctuations of light and dark that appear on the ground in the moments before and after totality during a solar eclipse. Although reported for more than two centuries, their physical origin remains unresolved. Observations show variability in visibility, spacing, motion, and contrast, and existing explanations account for only subsets of these features. No quantitative, predictive framework has been established.  \nPrevious attempts, including atmospheric-turbulence models such as Codona’s, reproduce certain qualitative aspects but do not yield quantitative predictions for fringe spacing or directional motion, nor do they identify the underlying physical cause in the solar-atmospheric system. These limitations motivate the geometric-optical model based on solar-limb geometry and wave-based propagation developed in the sections that follow.  \nSimilar banded patterns have occasionally been reported during other obscuration events, such as sunrise and sunset, suggesting a broader underlying mechanism.  \n1 Methods  \nThe aim of this work is to identify the physical mechanism responsible for shadow bands and to derive approximate predictions for their observable width, spacing, and motion. The analysis  \nis theoretical and draws on established solar-limb geometry, optical principles, and documented observational constraints.  \nAtmospheric variability and solar-atmospheric irregularities can influence the appearance of shadow bands, introducing uncertainties that are not modeled in detail here. The focus is instead on the underlying geometric-optical mechanism that governs the formation and evolution of the bands under clear terrestrial conditions.  \nTo establish that the physical analogue of shadow bands is the system of bright-dark fringes produced in a double-slit experiment, we treat the two bright solar shafts present at the verge of totality as the effective pair of coherent sources. Although the modern double-slit experiment is typically performed with a laser illuminating two slits in a darkened laboratory, such controlled conditions are not essential for the underlying physics. Young’s original demonstration—achieved with nothing more than a pane of glass and a thin card—already shows that a two-slit configuration can arise from simple, naturally occurring geometries.  \nFor a double-slit interference pattern to form, several physical conditions must be met. The light must possess sufficient coherence to maintain a stable phase relationship across the two paths. Monochromatic, or at least quasi-monochromatic,","cbCaiule451JtUPA","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiule451JtUPA","pdf",994817,23,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n# 1 Methods\n## 2 Observational Constraints","[{\"question\":\"What are shadow bands in a solar eclipse?\",\"answer\":\"Shadow bands are transient fluctuations of light and dark on the ground that can appear just before and after totality during a solar eclipse.\"},{\"question\":\"What physical mechanism does the preprint propose?\",\"answer\":\"It develops a geometric-optical, wave-based model that treats the two bright solar regions near the verge of totality as effective coherent sources, producing an interference-like pattern analogous to a double-slit experiment.\"},{\"question\":\"Which observational features does the model aim to explain?\",\"answer\":\"The analysis is designed to address temporal evolution, directional motion, altitude dependence, and sensitivity to surface texture observed in eclipse records.\"}]","The Optics of Shadow Bands - Preprint version 2 | PDF",1792677840,58]