This Fun Activity Got My Kids Interested in Astronomy

I've been fascinated by eclipses ever since speechmaking the classical Tintin comic Prisoners of the Sun. In the story, Tintin escapes decease by convincing his captors that helium tin bid the Sun, ordering it to vanish astatine the nonstop clip that a star eclipse is astir to happen.

As a partial star eclipse took spot crossed the Northern Hemisphere, I thought this was a cleanable accidental to effort to get my kids much funny successful astronomy.

Teaching My Kids About the Eclipse

Knowing that we were astir to witnesser a partial star eclipse, I wanted to explicate to my kids what was going to happen. We talked astir however the Sun and the Moon look the aforesaid size successful the sky and however this could beryllium erstwhile the Sun is truthful overmuch bigger than the Moon.

I past asked them what would hap if the Sun and the Moon were ever successful the aforesaid portion of the entity astatine the aforesaid clip and what that would look like. When I told them that it was going to hap aboriginal that aforesaid day, they instantly asked if we could ticker it.

Discussing How We Could Watch It Safely

It was precise important to explicate the dangers of looking straight astatine the Sun. I've been tempted to sneak a speedy peek astatine the Sun during erstwhile eclipses, truthful I knew that I had to marque them recognize conscionable however unsafe it could be.

I past asked them if they could deliberation of ways we could ticker it safely, without looking straight astatine the Sun. Their archetypal proposition was to usage a smartphone camera, but I explained that this could perchance harm the camera.

After a fewer different ideas, 1 of them suggested we could look astatine shadows. We talked astir what makes shadows and however the airy from the Sun spreads retired successful each directions, meaning that we wouldn't beryllium capable to spot the shadiness caused by the Moon passing successful beforehand of the Sun. We needed a mode to absorption the airy of the Sun onto a tiny area.

Making a Simple Pinhole Camera

This is erstwhile I explained to them the conception of a pinhole camera. By putting a spread successful a portion of paper, for example, the insubstantial would artifact astir of the light, and would lone let done a constrictive beam of airy rays. Since these rays question successful consecutive lines, if we let the airy to autumn connected an entity that's reasonably adjacent to the pinhole, we should spot a tiny representation of the Sun.

They were excited to effort it out, and we took turns poking holes successful sheets of insubstantial and holding them successful the way of the sunlight coming done the window. We experimented with holding the insubstantial astatine antithetic heights from the ground, and we were capable to make a unsmooth representation of the Sun. However, our hastily made insubstantial holes weren't peculiarly regular, truthful the projections of the Sun were unsmooth and fuzzy. I explained that we needed thing with perfectly circular holes.

Finding Something With Ready-Made Holes

That was erstwhile the treasure hunt began. I challenged them to find thing successful the location that we could usage that had a perfectly circular spread oregon holes successful it. They raced astir the house, looking for things that we could usage and trying retired thing they recovered that had a circular hole. Many of the objects had holes that were excessively large oregon excessively tiny to make bully images of the Sun, but they kept hunting and bringing backmost much objects to try.

Eventually, 1 of them came backmost with the entity I was hoping they would find: the aged colander with a missing grip that I'd conveniently near retired connected the broadside successful the kitchen.

Looking astatine the Shape of the Sun Through the Colander

My kids took turns holding up the colander successful the sunlight that was streaming done the model portion the different placed a portion of achromatic insubstantial connected the floor. They experimented with moving the colander backmost and distant and moving the insubstantial further distant to effort to make the sharpest circular images that they could connected the sheet.

After a small experimentation, they were capable to nutrient an representation of reasonably crisp circles connected the portion of paper. We were acceptable for the partial eclipse to start.

Watching the Eclipse Using the Colander

Before the partial eclipse began, I explained that the Moon would not beryllium passing straight implicit the halfway of the Sun but would beryllium a small higher successful the entity truthful that the bottommost of the Moon would beryllium covering the apical of the Sun. I asked them what they expected to hap to the projected circles, and they some said that the tops of the circles would get covered up, making the circles look similar a Pac-Man connected his back.

As the eclipse started, they were some excited to spot what would hap and kept a adjacent ticker connected the apical of the circles projected done the colander. However, it rapidly became evident that their prediction was wrong, and it was the bottoms of the circles that were disappearing, making them look similar a Pac-Man look down.

They were convinced that I was incorrect astir which portion of the Sun would beryllium covered up until I explained to them astir the rays of airy passing done the colander. The rays from the apical of the Sun were passing done the holes and ending up astatine the bottommost of the image, and the rays from the bottommost of the Sun were passing done and ending up astatine the top, meaning that our projected representation was really upside down.

We continued to ticker arsenic the full bottommost conception of the projected circles was covered successful shadow. Then the shadiness dilatory disappeared backmost the mode it had come, leaving america with the afloat circular images of the Sun erstwhile more.

My Daughter Is Begging Me to Set Up Her Telescope

The kids were truly excited to ticker the eclipse happen. They had large amusive making their pinhole cameras and uncovering household objects that we could trial out. Watching the eclipse hap successful existent clip was a existent thrill, and they loved however it started to look much and much similar Pac-Man.

Throughout each of this fun, they learned a batch of accusation without truly realizing it. They learned astir the Sun being 400 times larger than the Moon but besides 400 times further away. They learned however a pinhole camera works, and they adjacent learned that their ain eyes spot everything upside down earlier their brains flip the images the close mode up again.

My girl received a cheap telescope for Christmas, and she's not shown overmuch involvement successful it truthful far, but aft we watched the eclipse, she was begging maine to acceptable it up for her. Now we conscionable request to hold for immoderate wide skies, and she'll beryllium capable to bask her archetypal due stargazing experience.

---

It's not each time that you get to acquisition adjacent a partial eclipse, but it was an fantabulous accidental to effort to get my kids funny successful astronomy. My girl had shown small involvement successful the scope a comparative had bought her for Christmas, but she is present hopeless to effort it out. While eclipses are rare, determination are inactive plentifulness of things you tin bash with your kids to effort to spark their involvement successful what lies beyond our planet.