Academic Career
As a protege of Gordon Newkirk, Eddy worked with Princeton Professor Martin Schwarzschild in studying the solar corona with coronagraphs mounted on weather balloons at altitudes of 80,000 feet (24,000 m). Eddy's thesis was in this area of study.
Eddy completed his PhD Thesis at the University of Colorado at Boulder in December 1961 titled "The Stratospheric Solar Aureole".
Abstract: The theory of light scattering by small particles is summarized to develop the formulae needed to interpret solar aureole data obtained in balloon flights at stratospheric altitudes. Included are the Rayleihg law for small particles, the Chandrasekhar solution of the planetary scattering problem, and the Mie theory for large particle scattering. Observations cover the wavelength range from 0.37 to 0.79 micrometre at the scattering angle 2.4 degrees, and over the altitude range from 42,000 ft. to 80,000 ft. The findings suggest that the form of the particle size distribution changes with altitude, becoming a steeper function of particle radius at higher altitudes.
After achieving his PhD, Eddy went into teaching, while maintaining an active research schedule to maintain his credentials. He studied spectral lines and particularly doing work in infrared spectroscopy.
Read more about this topic: John A. Eddy
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