Polar rays of the solar corona observed during the 1973 June 30 eclipse

The solar eclipse of June 30, 1973 was observed at El Meki in Niger. Statistical investigation has shown that the apparent distribution of the polar rays has two maxima (5deg<=phi<=15deg and 20deg<=phi<=30deg). The dependence of the polar rays slope on height was proved. It was also found that the slope of the rays in the NW quadrant differed from that of the rays in the other quadrants. For the rays in the NW quadrant at 1.0 R(Sun) l=0.46, for the other rays l=0.66. The obtained values do not agree very well with previous results. We suppose that these differences are associated with the unexpected solar activity in this descending phase of the solar cycle. (author)