Regional Public Journalism
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Visitors flocked to Oregon in August 2017 to watch the first total solar eclipse viewable from the contiguous United States in 38 years.The path of totality ran all the way across North America, but started near Lincoln City. Totality began on the Oregon Coast on August 21 at 10:16 a.m. PDT.And eclipse watchers were ready.

No Eclipse Glasses? No Problem

Emily Schwing
/
Northwest News Network
Our Inland Northwest correspondent Emily Schwing missed out on getting a pair of eclipse sungalsses, so she built a simple pinhole projector.

Miss out on eclipse glasses? If so, there’s still plenty of time for a homemade science project. ???All you need to make a pinhole projector is a cereal box, a pin, a pair of scissors, some aluminum foil, and a roll of tape.??

Step 1: Tape the box closed.

Step 2: Cut two rectangles out of the top, and cover one with some aluminum foil. ??

Step 3:?? Take the pin and poke a small hole in the foil.

And that’s it. You've built your own pinhole projector so you can safely watch the eclipse. ?

During the eclipse, stand with your back to the sun and look through the uncovered hole while sun light passes through the pinhole. What you’ll see inside the box should be an inverted image of the eclipse—called the camera obscura effect.

Need illustrations? NASA has a handy little video that walks you through it.