Homemade Eclipse Viewer

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Much of the U.S. was excited this week about the solar eclipse that worked its way across the country. It seemed that one needed to start planning at least a year ago if they wanted to get a pair of viewing glasses that were the exact right type for protecting one’s eyes. Well, I’m a planner, but I didn’t plan for this. Cam & I were out-of-town with our families for an overnight at the La Quinta Resort in La Quinta, CA. It has 41 pools for the ultimate pool-hopping adventure.

Anywho, at the last minute, I decided that I wanted some sort of eclipse viewing device for Monday morning. At least, in the midst of pool-hopping, we’d be able to view the eclipse. Where we were the moon was going to have 61.5% coverage. Would it get cloudy-ish? Would we notice a difference in temperature? Would we even be able to tell that anything was going on? Whelp, I did a little Google search and came across instructions for making an eclipse viewer out of a shoe box. Am I crafty? No. Do I usually save things like shoe boxes? No. Literally days before, however, I had randomly decided to save a shoe box “for some future use.” This was it! I decided to get my craft on (however much that can be, given my non-craftiness).

Here’s how it turned out!

The Eclipse Viewer!
The eclipse viewer in use.

Here’s what we saw inside the viewer. Yes, it’s tiny, but the moon’s coverage was very clear. Whereas in real life, the moon was covering the sun from the top right, our eclipse viewer showed the coverage from the bottom left. This is due to the angle of the light through the pinhole, which causes the image to be inverted & reversed.

Extreme close-up!
I didn’t realize that the eclipse was reflecting onto my collar in this pic!
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Have you ever viewed a solar eclipse? Please share in the comments below!

Author
nic
Nicolette (Nic) is the nerdy accountant older sister. Nic keeps it old school. She's got a degree in accounting and a Master of Public Administration. She is now a homeschool mom, founder of Semi-Budget TravelĀ®, and involved in a variety of music-related activities at church. Nic resides in southern California with her husband and two daughters.

1 thought on “Homemade Eclipse Viewer”

  1. Very cool Niki!! You really got a good view. Paul’s family all live in Salem, OR and they sent lots of pictures while making a party out of the day with family and lots of friends invited over. Fun memories.

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