Build your own Eclipse Webcast Viewer!
On March 29, 2006 there will be a total solar eclipse, which is when the
moon moves directly between the sun and the Earth. It won't be visible
here in the U.S., but even if you don't live in Brazil, North Africa,
Turkey or East Asia you can join in the fun! The San Francisco
Exploratorium is hosting a big eclipse
party starting at 9pm Pacific time, and they'll be hosting a webcast
of the eclipse live from a Roman amphitheater in Turkey.
The most important thing to remember when viewing an eclipse is never
view an eclipse with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope! That's
because the sun will fry your eyeballs like a grape in the
microwave. So to enjoy next week's eclipse webcast safely, just
follow these simple instructions to build a pinhole eclipse webcast
viewer.
![](equipment.jpg) |
Equipment: two boxes, aluminum
foil, exacto-knife, paper, pin, laptop, and of course duct tape. |
![](holes.jpg) | Cut a small hole in the
side of each of your boxes, so you can look from the inside of one box into
another. |
![](al-foil.jpg) | Tape aluminum foil over
one of the two holes. Poke a small pinhole in foil. |
![](screen.jpg) | On the other box, tape a white
piece of paper on the inside wall opposite the hole you cut. This is your
viewscreen. |
![](cut-viewport.jpg) | Just above the viewscreen,
cut a flap. This is the hole you'll watch the eclipse through. |
![](place-together.jpg) | Put the two boxes
end-to-end, with the two small holes and the foil touching each
other. Start up your eclipse webcast, and put the laptop into the first
box, facing the pinhole. |
![](view-eclipse.jpg) | Put the lids back on both boxes, and view
the eclipse through your view hole. Enjoy! |
Remember: do not look directly at the eclipse webcast! Only
view the projection of the eclipse on your viewscreen.