Testing the eclipse viewing box

     I set my box up around 5pm three days before the eclipse to see if it would work. I used a saw horse to support it. I hope the saw horse will work the day of the eclipse when it will be much closer to a right angle. Aiming the box was a bit tricky. You want to align it with the sun so that the box's shadow is the same as the end of the box. It took a bit of fiddling to get it close but when I looked in the view window I couldn't see anything. I then got the brilliant idea to remove the aluminum with the pin hole. Now I had a large bright cutout I could aim at my screen.

     It didn't look pretty but I can now aim my box perfectly. I slipped the aluminum back into the holder and took another look. I'll probably need a step ladder, on eclipse day, to get on top to put the pinhole back in place. 

     This is my first image of the Sun. It's not aimed exactly right but it's not bad. I had either moved the box a bit or the Sun moved. I removed the pinhole and aimed the box a bit better.

     Here's a nice crisp picture of the Sun. Aim makes a big difference in clarity. I just stuck my cell phone in the view window and snapped a picture. I'm really thrilled with how this turned out. I added more black duct tape to the corners to cut out light so I'm hoping for better images.

     I did try the piece of aluminum with several holes pierced in a rough circle in this box. It gave me a weird blurry image. I think it is because the aluminum was not very flat and the curvyness made the light bend in together. The screen probably needs to be at a different distance from the pin holes in order for them to spread out properly. In this picture, I did not cover the viewing window well so you can clearly see the screen and the edge of the opening.

     I'm ready to watch the eclipse. I hope I have some good pictures to post! The Sun is only going to be about 75% covered in my area but it will be a good dry run for 2024!