The Daily Bulletin

In last week’s Totality Tuesday, we talked about eye safety and eclipse glasses, but there are ways to indirectly view the eclipse, too. Because you won’t be looking directly at the Sun, these are safe ways to watch the eclipse without eclipse glasses.

An easy method is to make a pinhole projector. This is done by making a pinhole in a piece of cardboard or cardstock and letting sunlight pass though that pinhole onto another piece of cardboard. The disk of the Sun will be projected onto the second piece of cardboard. To make it work even better, you can cut out a square from the middle of the cardboard, cover it with aluminum foil, and then punch the hole through the tinfoil. The Sun will show up best if the second piece of cardboard is white or has a piece of white paper taped to it. You can also make a pinhole projector using a cardboard box such as a cereal box.

Other pinholes will project an image of the Sun, too. You can use a colander, a slotted spoon, a cheese grater, or even your fingers. Beneath leafy trees, you can also see many projections as sunlight passes through spaces between the leaves.

An activity while using a pinhole projector is to outline the shape of the projected Sun at certain intervals, such as every 15 minutes. This will give you a nice record of your observations of the eclipse. You can also make a pattern of pinholes so the projected crescent suns shows that pattern, such as your name, the date, or a heart. Be sure to take a picture!

When using a pinhole projector, your back is to the Sun, so it is safe. Before totality, you will be able to watch how the appearance of the Sun changes as it is covered more and more by the Moon. You can then use the pinhole projector after totality to observe as more and more of the Sun becomes visible. During totality, you should be looking at the Sun’s corona and experiencing totality.

Next week, we will discuss what to be thinking about as you plan for April 8.

Question of the Week: Why doesn’t a solar eclipse happen every month?  

Answer: A solar eclipse happens during a new moon when the Moon blocks the Sun, causing the Moon’s shadow to pass across Earth’s surface. We have a new moon every month (sometimes two!). The reason we don’t get a solar eclipse every month is that the Moon’s orbit is tilted about 5 degrees with respect to Earth’s orbit around the Sun. This means the Moon’s shadow is usually too high or too low during a new moon to hit Earth’s surface.

For information about Buffalo State’s eclipse events, visit the Buffalo State Eclipse website. Questions? Email eclipse@buffalostate.edu.