Point the binoculars toward the Sun while holding a piece of white cardboard about one foot beyond the binoculars.Ĥ. Use duct tape to seal any holes that leak light past the cardboard shield.ģ. (You don’t need them both.) Then tape the shield to the front of the binoculars with the lens sticking through the hole. Make a Sun shield from a piece of cardboard. You can do this with duct tape-what else?Ģ. Firmly attach the binoculars to a tripod, eyepieces facing down. You MUST NOT look through the binoculars!ġ. You can magnify the Sun’s image by using a pair of binoculars. Use a piece of white cardboard to capture the images for a great viewing session! If you have some shade trees in your location, try looking at the images of the Sun coming through the holes formed by the leaves. The holes between your fingers make pinholes. Hold up both hands with your fingers overlapping at right angles. The farther the pinhole is from the screen, the bigger your image will be. With the Sun behind you, hold the pinhole cardboard as far from your screen as you can. Use the other piece of cardboard (which should be white for best viewing) as a screen. Now make a pinhole in the middle of the foil. In one, cut a one-inch hole, then tape a piece of foil over the hole. Here are some ways to watch the Sun that are even easier. Do not look through the pinhole at the Sun! Look only at the image on the paper. Move it until the shadow is as small as possible-that is, until it looks like the end of the box, and the sides are not casting a shadow.
To aim it, move it around until you see a round spot of light on the paper at the other end-that’s your pinhole image of the Sun! If you have trouble aiming your viewer, look at the shadow of the box on the ground. To use your viewer, point the pinhole end of the box right at the Sun. This is the screen where your projected Sun will appear. Put a piece of white paper at the end of the box, right inside the viewing hole. At the other end of the tube, cut a good-sized viewing hole in the side of the box. Tape a piece of foil over the hole, then poke a small hole in the foil with a pin.ģ. Cut a one-inch hole in the center of one end of the box. (Two triangular shipping tubes, taped together, make a good solar viewer.) Cut out the cardboard at one end of each tube and tape those ends together with duct tape, so that light can travel the length of the tube.Ģ. If you can't find a long tube, you can tape together two or more shorter ones. For example, if your box is six feet (72 inches) long, your solar image will be 72 x 0.01 = 0.72 inches in diameter, or about ¾ inch.ġ. To estimate how big the image will be, multiply the length of the box by 0.01. The length of the box is important: the longer the box, the bigger your image of the sun will be. The simplest requires only a long box (at least six feet long), a piece of aluminum foil, a pin, and a sheet of white paper. The above video, “How to Build a Sun Viewer,” shows you a safe way to watch eclipses or other solar events by projecting the Sun’s image. The instant the moon begins to move off the Sun's face, you must go back to using safe viewing techniques. Called totality, it lasts from a few seconds to a few minutes. This is the ONLY time: when the moon completely blocks the face of the Sun. If not, go back and re-ead the warning above.ĭuring a total solar eclipse, there are a few short moments when it’s safe to look directly at the Sun. If you are now completely terrified about looking at the Sun, good!-you may keep reading. In additional, there are no pain sensors inside your eye-so you won't even know it's happening! This literally burns your eye, causing permanent eye damage or blindness. If you look at the Sun, your eye’s lens will concentrate the Sun's light and focus it onto a very small spot on the back of your eye, on the retina. So understand this: you have a lens just like that in your eye. If so, you’ll remember that when sunlight is focused onto a small spot with a lens, it gets hot enough to start a fire. This is critical! Why? You may have taken a magnifying glass out into the sun and burned leaves with it. Never view the Sun with the naked eye or by looking through optical devices such as binoculars or telescopes! If you ever want to view a solar eclipse-whether it’s total, annular, or partial-the first thing you must know is this: This is probably the most important part of this website. Be sure to prepare for viewing solar eclipses live: use these tips and techniques to get a clear view without injuring your eyes.