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How To Build Your Own Eclipse Viewer
Space.com
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14/06/2025
How To Build Your Own Eclipse Viewer
Category
🤖
Tech
Transcript
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00:00
Ah, this is so cool!
00:06
On August 21st, people across the United States
00:09
will have a rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of a total solar eclipse.
00:13
During an eclipse, the Sun, Earth, and Moon align during the daytime
00:18
so that the Moon blocks the light of the Sun, either partially or completely.
00:22
Even during a total eclipse, looking directly at the Sun can cause severe eye damage.
00:27
So what are your options? Well, you could build a personal solar eclipse viewer,
00:32
kind of like a movie theater for an audience of one.
00:34
Here's what you'll need.
00:36
A cardboard box, any type of shoe box will do, a piece of white paper,
00:40
a pin or a needle, a piece of tin foil, an exacto knife, and some tape.
00:45
Let's get started.
00:46
First, we're going to cut a small hole in the box about one inch across near the top.
00:51
Next, we are going to cover that hole with a piece of tin foil.
00:58
Then we are going to poke a hole in the tin foil right in the middle.
01:03
So the pinhole is going to be your aperture.
01:05
That's how the image of the Sun is going to project on the inside of the box.
01:09
So now we're going to tape the piece of paper to the inside,
01:11
and that's going to be your projection screen.
01:13
And we're taping it right across from the hole you just made.
01:16
Now the last thing you're going to need to do is cut a viewing hole.
01:19
And you're going to do that on the side of the box that's adjacent to the screen
01:23
and a little bit closer to your aperture.
01:25
And you want your hole to be about an inch in diameter.
01:28
So you have your viewing hole, your aperture, and your projection screen.
01:33
Let's go test it.
01:35
So to test your viewer, you're going to take it outside on a sunny day.
01:39
Now remember, don't look directly at the sun.
01:41
You're going to hold up your viewer so that the aperture, the piece of tin foil with the hole in it,
01:45
that's facing the sun.
01:46
The sun is going to project through that inside the box.
01:48
And what you're going to do is you're going to look inside the viewing hole,
01:52
and you will see a projection of the sun inside the box.
01:58
I can totally see the sun.
02:00
And so during a total eclipse, you'll be able to see the shadow of the moon moving across the sun
02:05
and without frying your eyeballs.
02:07
This is Mindy Weisberger for Live Science.
02:09
Happy eclipse viewing.
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