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How To Build Your Own Eclipse Viewer

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00:00Ah, this is so cool!

00:06On August 21st, people across the United States

00:09will have a rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of a total solar eclipse.

00:13During an eclipse, the Sun, Earth, and Moon align during the daytime

00:18so that the Moon blocks the light of the Sun, either partially or completely.

00:22Even during a total eclipse, looking directly at the Sun can cause severe eye damage.

00:27So what are your options? Well, you could build a personal solar eclipse viewer,

00:32kind of like a movie theater for an audience of one.

00:34Here's what you'll need.

00:36A cardboard box, any type of shoe box will do, a piece of white paper,

00:40a pin or a needle, a piece of tin foil, an exacto knife, and some tape.

00:45Let's get started.

00:46First, we're going to cut a small hole in the box about one inch across near the top.

00:51Next, we are going to cover that hole with a piece of tin foil.

00:58Then we are going to poke a hole in the tin foil right in the middle.

01:03So the pinhole is going to be your aperture.

01:05That's how the image of the Sun is going to project on the inside of the box.

01:09So now we're going to tape the piece of paper to the inside,

01:11and that's going to be your projection screen.

01:13And we're taping it right across from the hole you just made.

01:16Now the last thing you're going to need to do is cut a viewing hole.

01:19And you're going to do that on the side of the box that's adjacent to the screen

01:23and a little bit closer to your aperture.

01:25And you want your hole to be about an inch in diameter.

01:28So you have your viewing hole, your aperture, and your projection screen.

01:33Let's go test it.

01:35So to test your viewer, you're going to take it outside on a sunny day.

01:39Now remember, don't look directly at the sun.

01:41You're going to hold up your viewer so that the aperture, the piece of tin foil with the hole in it,

01:45that's facing the sun.

01:46The sun is going to project through that inside the box.

01:48And what you're going to do is you're going to look inside the viewing hole,

01:52and you will see a projection of the sun inside the box.

01:58I can totally see the sun.

02:00And so during a total eclipse, you'll be able to see the shadow of the moon moving across the sun

02:05and without frying your eyeballs.

02:07This is Mindy Weisberger for Live Science.

02:09Happy eclipse viewing.

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