00:00What do a disco ball, a colander, and a welding mask all have in common?
00:04Well, these are all things you can use to safely view a solar eclipse.
00:08Hi, I'm Dr. Ryan French, I'm teaming up with Space.com to give you some advice for the upcoming eclipse.
00:13You should never look directly at the sun, typically we're used to using eclipse glasses to safely view an eclipse,
00:19but if you don't have a pair lying around, or if you want a more creative way to view the
00:23event,
00:24this video is going to give you some helpful tips on some activities you can do using things you might
00:27have at home.
00:28So first things first, we have a disco ball. Who doesn't have one of these lying around, right?
00:33A disco ball famously will reflect light off of the ball and produce bright circles around whatever room that you're
00:39in.
00:40However, during a partial solar eclipse, when the sun is not round,
00:45the sun will be sort of a crescent shape as part of the moon is blocking out the sun.
00:49The shapes reflected by a disco ball will not be circles, they will instead be the partial phase of the
00:56eclipse.
00:56Little crescent circles projected out around the room.
00:59Next up, this is a colander.
01:02Colanders have lots of small holes in them to allow water to drain through,
01:05but we can also use these holes to let light through to view the solar eclipse.
01:10So if you were to hold a colander six inches or so from the ground,
01:13light would pass through and you'd see little white dots cast by the shadow.
01:18Now, these white circles would still appear as circles during a solar eclipse,
01:22but if you pull your colander away off of the ground, those circles will change from being circles
01:27to the crescent shape of the current phase of the eclipse.
01:31In that light, we can actually do a fun experiment using this same concept.
01:36What I have here is just a piece of card and I've cut out a square, a triangle and a
01:41circle.
01:41And like with the colander, if I held this a couple of inches from the ground,
01:45the light shining through this would be a square, a triangle and a circle.
01:50However, as I pull this piece of card off the ground, during a partial solar eclipse,
01:55you will see the shape transition to the crescent sun.
01:58Next up, we have a welding mask.
02:00Welding masks can be used to observe the sun directly if you're using a filter that is level 12 or
02:07higher.
02:08However, for me, although level 12 is safe, it's not going to damage your eyes,
02:12I still find it to be a bit bright when I'm looking through at the sun.
02:15It's not very comfortable to look at for very long.
02:17So instead, I use a level 14. It's way more comfortable.
02:21The sun appears a kind of greeny color.
02:23And last but not least, a fun way to view the eclipse is to use your body and the nature
02:28around you.
02:29If you have long hair, you can make shapes in your hair or gaps in your fingers.
02:33And the light shining through your fingers will be that crescent sun as they reach the ground.
02:38Similarly, trees around you, the shadows cast through branches and leaves will also be this crescent shape.
02:44So very weird and very different to the kind of shadows our brain and eyes are used to seeing.
02:49So there you go.
02:51For this upcoming solar eclipse, don't just turn your attention up to the sky.
02:54Also turn your attention to the shadows and reflections in the world around you.
02:58Here we go.
02:58All right.
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