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Pinhole Viewer for the Partial Solar Eclipse

Posted by timothy on from the not-the-naked-eye dept.

Jet City Orange writes: "I made a quickie pinhole solar viewer to observe the recent partial solar eclipse. And then I photographed the whole thing with my digital camera. Homebrew astrophotography right here in West Seattle."

3 of 34 comments (clear)

  1. A slightly more advanced method by PurpleFloyd · · Score: 4, Informative
    While the eclipse is over, this might be something to keep in mind for when the next one rolls around:

    My method for safely observing the eclipse was to use a monocular (you could easily use binoculars as well, just use one half of 'em) to project the image onto a piece of stiff white tagboard. It allows a larger and clearer picture (I was able to actually see what I believe were sunspots, as they didn't change when I moved the image around!). Simply line up the monocular with the sun by making the shadow end-on, with the main lens towards the sun. Then, move the eyepiece close to the tagboard. Find the white dot, then move the monocular out and focus it by trial and error. It took me about a minute to set up, and I got a nice clear image of the sun that would have been about an inch in diameter, assuming it didn't have a big bite taken out of it ;-).

    One saftey note: never look directly at the sun, whether it's through the monocular or with the naked eye. While it seems like you might never do it, I almost did several times, as it seemed so much easier than trying to get the little projected image in focus on the paper. Please, be careful with your eyes. Cyborg-vision is still a long way off.

    --

    That's it. I'm no longer part of Team Sanity.
  2. More good Pics.. by umrgregg · · Score: 3, Informative

    can be found at this site:

    http://images.fbrtech.com/tora/proj/eclipse/

    --
    NMG
  3. Re:Here's another tool that you might like to try. by mgarraha · · Score: 3, Informative
    one paper towel and toilet paper roll
    I used just such a device in 1986 and described it on Usenet in 1994. By blocking ambient light, the tubes improve contrast so much that you can see clouds near the sun.
    You can look directly at the sun *without* any risks or problems, on a normal day. To focus, just move the smaller tube in and out like telescope.
    Although you point it at the sun, you are using rear projection, not viewing the sun directly. There are no lenses, so there's nothing to focus.