DIY Eclipse Box Viewer
Step by step instructions on making a safe solar eclipse viewer at home.
What you will need
Build a Box Viewer: The Deluxe Setup
Fancy something with a bit more kit? Swap the basic pinhole for a cardboard box and you get a proper viewer with its own built-in screen. A little more graft, a much better payoff.
Grab: a cardboard box, paper, tape, scissors, aluminium foil, and a pin.
The Build
- Make your screen. Cut a piece of paper to match one of the small ends of the box. Tape it flat against the inside. This is where the magic lands.
- Cut the pinhole slot. On the side opposite your paper screen, cut a small rectangular hole in the upper left corner.
- Cut the eyehole. Same side, upper right corner, cut a large viewing hole.
- Prep the foil. Cut a square of aluminium foil slightly larger than the small hole.
- Poke it. Push one clean hole dead centre with a pin. One is all you need.
- Fit the foil. Tape it over the small rectangular hole, pinhole on show.
- Line it up. Turn your back to the Sun. Hold the box at a right angle to the Sun's path, big hole up to your eye, small hole kept clear. Shuffle it about until a bright white circle appears on the paper. That's the Sun, projected and completely safe to watch.
One Rule
Never look straight at the Sun, viewer or no viewer. Let the box do the looking for you. Build it, aim it, enjoy the show.
For a visual guide check out the video
And as for the next one in 2050... Just get some glasses