Full moon, half moon......near Total Eclipse!

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Well today is August 12th 2026 and it is time for a (near in the UK) TOTAL Eclipse. 

Its not quite a full one here in the south of England but it is for some close by and it is the nearest we've had for 27 years. I remember the last one and being excited that it was happening. My sister and I ended up going to one of her friend's houses to see it. Not that it was any better there and mostly we just noticed it got darker and watched the live reporting from Land's End on the TV but hey, I remember where I was when it happened. 

This time will be a bit different though as I have a cool kid at home for the summer holidays and we will be watching. We don't have any eclipse glasses as I need regular ones to see properly and I am a big proponent of not messing with the sun when it comes to eyes in particular. 

So instead we are going to walk to to the top of the near by hill and use a pin hole viewer. This tech has been around for a very long time and it is the second safest way of viewing an eclipse. (The first being watch videos of it on TV). But if you want to see it without burning holes in your eyes or trusting a bit of plastic not to burn holes in your eyes then this is the next best thing. 

A pin hole viewer shows the sun in a safe way and is really easy to make. 

I've used cereal boxes, a piece of white card, sticky tape, piece of foil and a small pin to make mine. Here is what it looks like - 







What you need to do it position yourself correctly with the sun directly behind you, angle the box to create a direct line from the sun shining onto the small hole in the foil, then look inside the box. You will see a representation of the sun shining onto the card at the end. When the moon passes over the sun, this little sun will also show it. It will grow darker and show the moon's shadow just like the real thing but far safer and actually upside down? 

Yes! This is the same with the human eye. Our iris works in the same way as the pin hole, the eyeball is the dark space inside the box and the retina at the back of our eye is the smooth surface at the back of the box. Then our brain does a lot of work to put things back the right way up. 

This is the view my box created



I was quite happy with this but the neighbour used 2 pieces of paper and got this.......



I think I'd do his way next time!

Anyhow, this is how I viewed the eclipse, how about you? Let me know in the comments

Until Next Time

xx


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