A simple and clever design is all you need to get the most out of the solar eclipse on April 8, says one local educator and astronomy enthusiast.
Jim Dewey, a member of the Barrie Astronomy Club, as well as a vice-principal and special education resource teacher, has two solar eclipse pinhole projectors built by students for a project, which he'll use to take photos and videos of the eclipse.
He made a similar projector for his own use during the last solar eclipse in 2017.
All Dewey used is a cardboard Sonotube, a circular form used in construction projects to hold concrete, with both ends of it covered.
The end pointed at the sun has a tiny pinhole in the middle of it, which allows light from the sun to enter the projector.
The other end is covered and made to house a paper screen using plain white paper.
You just need to cut a hole in the side of the Sonotube near the paper screen at the back end to be able to see the image that projects upside down on the makeshift screen.
And that's it, he notes.
“At no time am I looking at the sun,” says Dewey. “I'm only viewing the projection of the sun on the paper screen.”
The longer the tube, the larger the image of the sun appears on the paper screen.
“While I'm using a telescope mount for directional control and stability, they are easy to use hand-held too,” he explains.
The Canadian Space Agency has a website tutorial on making a similar solar eclipse projector which can be found here.
