Chicago's NPR News Source

Make Your Own Eclipse Viewer

No eclipse glasses? No problem. Make your own solar viewer; (almost) no tools required.

Eclipse Video

NPR/Skunk Bear/Screenshot via YouTube

Hundreds of years before solar viewing glasses were readily available, scientists and casual spectators could still enjoy these rare celestial events without frying their eyeballs. They’d use a combination of pinholes and mirrors to redirect the sun’s rays onto a screen.

It took a while to figure out how to build the so-called camera obscura. Ancient Chinese and Greek scholars puzzled over pinholes for centuries before an Arab mathematician and scientist came up with a design.

You can rig up your own version with simple household items. It’s easy. Skunk Bear’s latest video shows you how.

And remember, never look directly at the sun without appropriate eye protection.

____

Eclipses are beautiful, and they’re also really important to scientists. Skunk Bear’s latest video explores the many discoveries sparked by solar eclipses. Check it out over on Skunk Bear’s YouTube channel.

Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

utm.gif

The Latest
Lomelok, a lion cub born in 2023, had undergone an unprecedented surgery in March to alleviate mobility issues caused by a deformity in his lower spine.
Chicago is one of the deadliest cities for migrating birds, according to recent reporting in the Chicago Tribune. But now an ordinance that would make building standards more bird-friendly could pass after a years-long delay. Reset hears from two advocates about the details and the importance of Chicago as a stopover for more than 250 species of migratory birds. GUESTS: Judy Pollock, president of the Chicago Audubon Society Annette Prince, chair of Bird Friendly Chicago and director of Chicago Bird Collision Monitors
Scientists recently managed to generate a net energy gain through atomic particle fusion, a big step toward a future source of green energy. Reset learns how far we are from wide use of that energy source. GUEST: Evan Halper, Washington Post business reporter covering the energy transition
Several varieties of furry fliers are likely closer than you think. Given the rampant spread of a deadly bat disease, we’re lucky to find the critters here at all.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature added the migrating monarch butterfly for to its “red list” of threatened species and categorized it as “endangered” — two steps from extinct.