How to Make a Solar Eclipse Viewer - DIY Guy

A total solar eclipse is coming to the USA on Monday, August 21st! There hasn't been a total eclipse visible here since 1979, and there won't be another one until 2024.

Viewing a solar eclipse with your bare eyes is super dangerous. As little as 30 seconds of cumulative exposure can cause permanent blinds spots in your vision.

If you didn't manage to get your hands some of the good eclipse glasses that are probably all sold out by now, don't be tempted by the knock-off cheap versions that are bound to pop up.

It's much safer to make yourself an easy DIY eclipse projector. You won't be able to stare directly at the sun, but they will protect your vision, which is irreplaceable.

Less than three minutes long, and it's amusing. See if you can spot Edub, the DIY Dog.

You'll Need

(3) Pieces of Poster Board or Foam Core

A Cereal Box

Aluminum Foil

A Pin or Small Nail

Duct Tape

A Utility Knife

It is dangerous to view an eclipse with naked eyes or non-CE and ISO certified glasses. It's not just the visible light that gets you, it's also the ultraviolet and infrared light. The safest method to view the eclipse without special lenses is to project it indirectly.

The first method we'll show you is the simplest. You'll need two pieces of poster board or foam core.

We used foam core, because it's stiffer and doesn't flop around as much in the breeze.

Use a utility knife to cut a 6"x6" hole in one of your pieces of foam core.

If you're a kid, get a grow-up to help you with this part. Keep your fingers!

Cut out enough aluminum foil to completely cover the 6" hole, and tape it on.

Use a nail, pin, or needle to poke a hole in the center of the aluminum foil.

This tiny hole will work like a pinhole camera, which you'll use to project the eclipse onto the other piece of foam core.

Find an open area with an unobstructed view of the sun.

Place one piece of foam core on the ground, and stand behind it with your back to the sun.

Hold the projector you made above your head, and move it around until the sun shines through the tiny hole, onto the foam core on the ground.

Now you can safely view the effects of the eclipse, without risking your eyes!

This one is a little more fun to make.

Trace the bottom of a cereal box on a white piece of poster board, and cut it out.

Tape or glue that piece to the inside bottom of the cereal box.

This is what you'll be projecting the eclipse onto.

Place a piece of duct-tape across the center of the closed top of the box.

Then use your utility knife to carefully cut out the box top on either side of the tape.

Tape foil over one open side of the box..

...and poke a hole in the center of the foil with your pin.

Stand with your back to the sun and hold the box up to your eye.

Look through the open portion of the box top.

You'll need to move around a bit to position yourself properly, but once you get it right, you'll be able to see the eclipse projected inside the box.

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