Cosmic ray visual phenomena

Cosmic ray visual phenomena, or light flashes (LF), also known as Astronaut's Eye, are spontaneous flashes of light visually perceived by some astronauts outside the magnetosphere of the Earth, such as during the Apollo program. While LF may be the result of actual photons of visible light being sensed by the retina,[1] the LF discussed here could also pertain to phosphenes, which are sensations of light produced by the activation of neurons along the visual pathway.[2]

  1. ^ Hecht, Selig; Shlaer, Simon; Pirenne, Maurice Henri (July 1942). "Energy, Quanta, and Vision". Journal of General Physiology. 25 (6): 819–840. doi:10.1085/jgp.25.6.819. PMC 2142545. PMID 19873316.
  2. ^ Dobelle, W. H.; Mladejovsky, M. G. (December 1974). "Phosphenes produced by electrical stimulation of human occipital cortex, and their application to the development of a prosthesis for the blind". The Journal of Physiology. 243 (2): 553–576. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1974.sp010766. PMC 1330721. PMID 4449074.