YOU’VE SURELY HEARD by now that the moon will pass between Earth and the sun on August 21, creating a total solar eclipse that will cast a shadow over much of the US. Jimmy Carter was president the last time this happened, so you definitely don’t want to miss it.
The best way to observe this astronomical event is to be somewhere in the path of the totality that will experience total darkness in the middle of the day. If you can’t do this, you have two other options: Buy a pair of solar glasses or make a pinhole.
Solar glasses are super easy to find, but you definitely want to make sure you aren’t getting bogus or counterfeit glasses, because they’ll damage your eyes. Your mother probably told you to never look at the sun because you’ll go blind. You may not go blind, but you’ll definitely regret it.
The article above shows you how to make one type of viewer. Below is a video produced by Amazing Space and posted on YouTube.com/Space Videos showing another way to make a viewer.
