Dispersed Images of the Partially Eclipsed Sun and Solar Corona as Proxies for Spectrometer Nonidealities

Limitations in spectrograph behavior are difficult to visualize because aberrations, noise, and nonlinearity are largely mitigated in modern designs. Nevertheless, spectral resolution and precision are often subtly degraded by coma, astigmatism, stray light, noise, and distortion. The unique source geometry available during a solar eclipse allows a demonstration of some of these effects. Images from the eclipse of 8 April 2024 are presented and discussed.