Observations of the solar corona in polarized white light during the total solar eclipse of February 16, 1980: Preliminary results

Photographic observations of the corona were made by a Belgian expedition to Kenya during the eclipse of Feb. 16, 1980, by using a polaroid filter oriented in three directions 60 deg apart. The preliminary results of the reduced data are presented; these results consist in the analysis of the following three parameters: total intensity, degree of polarization, and direction of the electric vector. The local variation of these parameters reveals, among other features, a deep coronal hole at the south pole; a peculiar streamer (P.A. 280 deg) associated to a transient (the tennis racket), also observed by other teams; and a density enhancement at P.A. 200 deg, possibly associated with a transient observed with the K-coronameter of the High Altitude Observatory 12 hr before the eclipse.