Close Menu
Technology Mag

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    Meta’s new Ray-Ban smart glasses have twice the battery life

    September 18, 2025

    I sat down with Mark Zuckerberg to try Meta’s impressive new Ray-Ban Display glasses

    September 18, 2025

    Meta will let you use a Quest VR headset to turn your real-world space into a virtual world

    September 18, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Subscribe
    Technology Mag
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    • Home
    • News
    • Business
    • Games
    • Gear
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Security
    • Trending
    • Press Release
    Technology Mag
    Home » Can You View a Round Solar Eclipse Through a Square Hole?
    Science

    Can You View a Round Solar Eclipse Through a Square Hole?

    News RoomBy News RoomApril 9, 20243 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp Email

    If you live in the US and missed the last total solar eclipse in 2017, good news! You’re about to get another chance. There will be a total solar eclipse passing through Texas and the Midwest states on April 8. Remember that in a solar eclipse, the moon’s shadow falls on the Earth. If you’re in this shadow, it’s going to look really weird. But also awesome.

    Even if you’re not in the path of totality, you can still see something. All of the continental states will get at least a partial eclipse. (Check out the map here at NASA’s eclipse page.) And do I need to tell you this? Never look at the sun without special glasses, even when it’s mostly blocked by the moon. You may still be able to get some safe solar viewers before the big event.

    But there’s another way to view the solar eclipse without glasses: using a pinhole projector. It’s super simple to make and easy to use. All you need is something flat like a piece of cardboard. Then you poke a hole in it with a pin. That’s pretty much it. When light from the sun passes through the hole, it will project an image onto some flat surface (like a sidewalk).

    If you did this on a normal day you’d see a circular dot of light. You might think that’s because the hole is round. But during the eclipse you will see a crescent shape caused by the moon passing in front of the sun. It’s both awesome and safe for your eyes.

    Actually, you don’t even need to make a pinhole viewer—they already exist all around us. If you stand under a tree, the small spaces between the leaves will act as pinholes to project a bunch of little crescent images. Here’s a picture I took during the 2017 eclipse:

    Images of a solar eclipse projected through the gaps in overhead leaves.

    Courtesy of Rhett Allain

    Fun With Pinholes

    Just for fun, here’s a question for you. Most pinholes are round (because pins have cylindrical shafts). But what if you replaced the circular hole with a square one? What shape would a round sun project onto the ground? Would it be a circle? Would it be a square? Or maybe it would be a squircle! What about a triangular hole? What would happen then?

    I actually have a card from PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) that demonstrates this with three holes—circular, triangular and square. Check it out.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleTarget Is Having a Big Sale Right Now on iPads, Headphones, and Even a KitchenAid Stand Mixer
    Next Article Destiny 2: The Final Shape is going to break the game in a good way

    Related Posts

    The Next Era of Gene Editing Will Be Disease Agnostic

    September 17, 2025

    WIRED Health Recap: Cancer Vaccines, Crispr Breakthroughs, and More

    September 17, 2025

    Crispr Offers New Hope for Treating Diabetes

    September 17, 2025

    US Taxpayers Will Pay Billions in New Fossil Fuel Subsidies Thanks to the Big Beautiful Bill

    September 15, 2025

    The New Math of Quantum Cryptography

    September 15, 2025

    ‘People Are So Proud of This’: How River and Lake Water Is Cooling Buildings

    September 15, 2025
    Our Picks

    I sat down with Mark Zuckerberg to try Meta’s impressive new Ray-Ban Display glasses

    September 18, 2025

    Meta will let you use a Quest VR headset to turn your real-world space into a virtual world

    September 18, 2025

    Meta is making the metaverse look better

    September 17, 2025

    The new Oakley Meta glasses are what athletes actually want

    September 17, 2025
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Vimeo
    Don't Miss
    News

    Meta’s Ray-Ban Gen 2 and Oakley Vanguard glasses are available to preorder

    By News RoomSeptember 17, 2025

    At its Connect keynote on Wednesday, Meta officially introduced the $799.99 Meta Ray-Ban Display, also…

    I regret to inform you Meta’s new smart glasses are the best I’ve ever tried

    September 17, 2025

    Meta Connect 2025: the 6 biggest announcements

    September 17, 2025

    Meta is bringing an all-in-one movie and TV streaming hub to Quest headsets

    September 17, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of use
    • Advertise
    • Contact
    © 2025 Technology Mag. All Rights Reserved.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.