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A solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the Earth and the sun and the moon casts its shadow on the Earth’s surface. This event can be fun to observe, but you need special tools to view it safely. Even during a total eclipse of the sun, where the moon blocks much of the sun’s light to a particular point on Earth’s surface, there's only a small window of time that the sun is safe to view without using protective gear. As that safe period can be hard for even trained scientists to predict, it's important to build a special solar eclipse viewer to help you make your own observations of a solar eclipse in a safe way. Here's how to make an eclipse viewer using some common household items!
Materials
- Cereal Box
- Piece of heavy-duty foil
- Nail or tack
- Piece of white cardboard cut to fit in the bottom of the cereal box (for easier viewing)
- Scissors, tape, and glue
- Markers
Process
- Empty your cereal box, including the inner paper that held the cereal.
- Cut a white piece of cardboard that will fit snuggly in the bottom of the box, or secure it permanently by gluing it in place.
- Cut the top of the cereal box, removing both ends and leaving the center intact.
- Put a piece of tape across the center of the top to securely hold it closed.
- Tape a piece of heavy-duty foil, or double a single layer for additional strength, covering one of the openings at the top of the cereal box.
- The other opening will remain open for viewing.
- Using a small nail or tack to push a hole in the foil. The actual size is not a critical issue; you can experiment with different sizes and shapes.
- Feel free to decorate the outside of the box however you’d like, just make sure not to cover up the two openings at the top of the box.
Viewing the Sun
To use the solar eclipse viewer, turn the side of the box with the foil up towards the sun (be careful not to look directly at the sun as you are moving it into position). Some of the sun’s light should shine through the hole onto the white sheet of paper in the bottom of the box. Look through the larger opening of the box below the foil covering, and you should see an image of the sun projected onto the paper. As the moon moves in front of the sun during an eclipse, you’ll see it as a dark circle crossing the edge of the sun’s image.
Adapted from this handout from our friends at NASA.
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