If your approved solar eclipse glasses didn’t come in time or stores near you are sold out, it’s not too late to safely see the eclipse. Using items you can find around the house, you can make a pinhole projector, which allows you to see a reflected image of the event.
While eclipse glasses filter out light, the pinhole camera projects the light from the sun onto another surface, so you’re looking at a reflected image instead of directly at the sun.
Sara G. Miller of Space.com shared her easy tips for making a pinhole projector at home with “Good Morning America.”
“This is a fun, simple science project that you can do at home, so there’s no reason that you should miss out on the Great American Solar Eclipse today,” Miller said.
DIY step-by-step guide
Materials
Empty cereal box
White paper
Aluminum foil
Pencil
Tape
Scissors
How to make it
Trace the bottom of the box on paper.
Cut out the rectangle.
Tape paper to inside bottom of box. (If you can’t tape the paper to the bottom of the box, you can just place it there. It should stay in place.)
Close the top of the box.
Cut two holes in the top of the box.
Cover one hole with foil. Tape foil to box.
Poke a small hole in the middle of the foil.
How to use it
Take your pinhole projector outside and face away from the sun so that its light shines into the pinhole.
Look through the hole you did not cover, and you will see the sun projected on the paper inside the box.
For other safe viewing methods via projection, click here.
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