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pnwmom

(108,978 posts)
Mon Aug 21, 2017, 02:59 AM Aug 2017

The easiest ways to watch the eclipse (without a pinhole viewer or eclipse glasses).

I'm one of the people who is daunted by the idea of making a pinhole viewer. So the following ideas appealed to me (besides watching it on TV!)

STAND WITH YOUR BACK TO THE SUN:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/08/19/cant-find-the-protective-glasses-to-watch-the-solar-eclipse-go-old-school/?utm_term=.170a5b027ec1.

Waffle fingers

If you have nothing handy with which to watch, don’t fret. Use your hands. Make waffle fingers! Look away from the sun and crosshatch your fingers, so they make little holes, so you can project the sun’s rays onto the side of a building or sidewalk. Check these suggestions from the American Astronomical Society. Do not look at the sun through your fingers! Let your fingers work for you and project the sun onto a surface.

Everyday kitchen gadgets work beautifully. Your favorite colander, a flat cheese grater, a serving spoon with small holes all serve to project the sun onto a wall, driveway or cardboard. Do not look at the sun through colanders, graters or slotted spoons! Again, hold up your device and project the sun onto a surface.

Or, stand under a leafy tree and look to the ground. You can see hundreds of eclipse projections right at your feet.

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pnwmom

(108,978 posts)
2. But that's not what it will look like where I am, because
Mon Aug 21, 2017, 03:06 AM
Aug 2017

we're only going to be in the 90% range.

Do you have a GIF for that, too?

Brother Buzz

(36,434 posts)
4. But that images you'll be looking at are bogus......
Mon Aug 21, 2017, 03:12 AM
Aug 2017

Everything you see will be upside down and backwards. That's a fact, Jack.

Brother Buzz

(36,434 posts)
7. It doesn't matter, it's all a lie. Totally bogus
Mon Aug 21, 2017, 03:39 AM
Aug 2017

Even if you used a looking glass to reverse the image, it would still be upside down.

LeftInTX

(25,337 posts)
6. Colander, cheese grater, card board with holes punched, grill toppers (with holes)
Mon Aug 21, 2017, 03:21 AM
Aug 2017

Poster board for shadows, solar filter for cell phone, solar glasses, wrap around sunglasses to go over solar glasses, camera with filter...all for just 60% coverage

phylny

(8,380 posts)
12. Here are two images of the eclipse projections through leaves (I think we were 90%):
Tue Aug 22, 2017, 03:51 AM
Aug 2017

On my driveway:

[img][/img]

On my deck:

[img][/img]

We also did the colander thing, and that was cool, too.

pnwmom

(108,978 posts)
13. Yes! I walked around my backyard taking pictures of everything but the sky.
Tue Aug 22, 2017, 04:00 AM
Aug 2017

The concrete patio looked like it was bubbling up -- like your driveway.

The light effects down below were more interesting than the single crescent I could see through my solar-approved glasses.

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