Hey Ray - Solar eclipse shadows
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - We continue to get closer to the total solar eclipse, and we can't express eye safety enough.
From solar eclipse glasses to pinhole viewers, to just looking through a strainer, there are plenty of ways to safely see this event.
There are other things you should look for during the eclipse on April 8th , too.
Really weird-looking shadows!
During the eclipse, sunlight passing through things like leaves will start to look a lot different. They start to look like a bunch of eclipses or squiggly shadows.
You may notice these shadows sort of look like what would happen with the pinhole viewer we made or looking at the eclipse shadows through a strainer or colander.
Tree leaves act like a pinhole viewer, projecting the eclipse onto the ground or other surfaces. Since there are more holes, and the leaves are moving, it makes for an interesting pattern!
As the Sun's direct light passes through the pinhole and the ambient light is blocked, it takes on the shape of the light source, which is round. You can even see the clouds that are in the way of the sun being projected into the viewer, as they are blocking some of the Sun's light!
Since the Sun is being blocked by the Moon, the light source becomes eclipse-shaped.
You can better see this in action with these two lights. They make a cross shape. Without the light being focused through a small hole, the lights just light the poster board.
When the light is focused through a hole, you can see the cross shapes appear. That cross shape happens no matter the shape of the hole that the light is passing through.
You can see this same effect with a square-shaped light.
No matter the shape of the hole the light passes through, you still end up with a square-shaped projection.
Even the LED lights start to appear since they are tiny individual light sources! Since the Sun is usually not blocked, the Sun's shadows are round, or circular, since the Sun is round.
Another interesting thing is that the image of the sun you are seeing projected during the eclipse is actually upside-down! According to the University of Colorado, the image of the sun is projected onto a surface behind the small hole as light rays from the top of the eclipse are relayed to the bottom of the image, and light from the bottom of the eclipse creates the top of the image.
They say the Sun is vertically symmetrical, however, so this effect is not noticeable.
Let's just hope the April 8th Solar Eclipse IS visible!
