Tampa, Fla (WFLA) — You’ve got your eclipse glasses and you know where you want to watch the eclipse, but now it’s time to fine tune your plan and throw a few things on the pack list to make the eclipse even more fun.
Whether you are headed to the path of totality or watching the partial solar eclipse from Tampa Bay, swing through your kitchen and grab your colander. I know it sounds a little silly, but trust me—having you colander with you during the eclipse can make it even more fun.
During the partial eclipse phases, particularly when you get past about 40% eclipse, if you hold the colander up and look at the shadow it casts, you can see the partial eclipse in each hole of light streaming through the colander. It’s similar to how you can see the partial eclipse through the filtered light through tree leaves.
It’s called the pinhole projector effect. It’s also the same mechanism at work when kids make their own solar eclipse viewing box. The light passes through the small hole of the colander or the pinhole projector box. It is filtered out from the surrounding light and projected upon a surface, whether it be the ground in the case of a colander, or the back of the pinhole projector box. The reflection of the partial solar eclipse is projected onto the surface, so you get partially eclipsed sun images for each hole of the colander.
This is technically the safest way to view a partial eclipse—no glasses needed. If is NOT safe to look at the sun through a pinhole, you still need glasses to look at the sun.
The more eclipsed the sun is, the more fun the images look. You can also see this effect replicated under trees. The leaves filter out most of the sunlight and the beams of light that do pass through then project the reflection on the sun onto the ground.
Here’s a list of things you may want to pack to enjoy watching the eclipse
- Eclipse glasses
- Colander
- Filter for camera or smartphone
- Chairs or a blanket
- Snacks and water
- Sun protection- sunscreen, hat, sunglasses