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Science 10 September 1976:
Vol. 193. no. 4257, pp. 1002 - 1003
DOI: 10.1126/science.193.4257.1002
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Articles

Light Flashes Observed on Skylab 4: The Role of Nuclear Stars

P. L. ROTHWELL 1, R. C. FILZ 1, and P. J. MCNULTY 2

1 Air Force Geophysics Laboratory, L. G. Hanscom Field, Bedford, Massachusetts 01730
2 Clarkson College of Technology, Potsdam, New York 13676

The astronauts on Skylab 4 observed bursts of intense visual light flash activity when their spacecraft passed through the South Atlantic Anomaly. Flash rates as high as 20 per minute have in the past been considered unexpectedly high. When the effect of nuclear interactions in and near the retina is included, the apparent anomaly is removed.

Submitted on March 8, 1976
Revised on June 9, 1976

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)