Witness the Spectacular Solar Eclipse on April 8th
Attention all stargazers in the United States! If you missed the breathtaking total solar eclipse in 2017, you’re in luck. On April 8th, another celestial wonder will grace the skies, passing through Texas and the Midwest states. During a solar eclipse, the moon’s shadow falls on Earth, creating an otherworldly experience for those in its path. Even if you’re not in the path of totality, you can still witness a partial eclipse from anywhere in the continental states.
Pinhole Viewers: Nature’s Own Projectors
While it’s never safe to look directly at the sun, even during an eclipse, there’s a simple and fascinating way to observe this phenomenon safely. Pinhole viewers allow you to project the eclipse onto a surface, revealing the moon’s silhouette as it passes in front of the sun. Interestingly, pinhole viewers are all around us in nature. The small spaces between tree leaves act as natural pinholes, projecting numerous crescent-shaped images on the ground during an eclipse.
Images of a solar eclipse projected through the gaps in overhead leaves. Courtesy of Rhett Allain
Exploring the Shapes of Light
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you replaced a circular pinhole with a square one? Would the projected image of the sun be a circle or a square? The answer might surprise you. When the hole is larger than a pinprick, the projected image becomes a combination of the light source’s shape and the hole’s shape. If the screen is close to the hole, the image will resemble the hole’s shape. However, as the screen moves farther away, the image will take on the shape of the light source.
Courtesy of Rhett Allain
In the example above, a square hole projects a square image of two light sources onto a screen. As the screen moves away from the hole, the image transforms, revealing the shape of the light sources made up of tiny squares.
Courtesy of Rhett Allain
The PUNCH Card: A Unique Eclipse Viewing Experience
The PUNCH (Pinhole Unusual Novelty Crescent Hologram) card offers a creative way to observe the solar eclipse. This card features three different shaped holes: a triangle, a circle, and a square. When the card is held close to a wall, the projected images will resemble the shapes of the holes. However, as the card is moved farther away, the images will transform into the shape of the sun – a circle during normal times, or a crescent during the eclipse.
Courtesy of Rhett Allain
Courtesy of Rhett Allain
Even if you can’t make it to a location with a total eclipse, you can still have a blast exploring the wonders of light and shadow with a pinhole viewer. So, grab your PUNCH card or find a tree with plenty of leaves, and get ready to be amazed by the solar eclipse on April 8th!
4 Comments
Absolutely, nature doesn’t care about our human-made shapes; the eclipse will show its true form regardless!
Zoe Campbell: Nature’s spectacle laughs at our petty geometric constraints, showing us who’s really in charge!
Orion: Mind-bending, isn’t it? A square hole can’t dictate the sun’s cosmic dance!
Whoa, didn’t expect that twist – a square hole won’t stop the sun from playing its round tricks during an eclipse!