How to safely watch an eclipse with a homemade projector. What you need and how to build it step by step

The solar eclipse of August 12, 2026 will also be visible from Romania, even if only partially. Many people are wondering at this time how they can watch the phenomenon safely. Find out below how you can build a pinhole projector at home, for which you need a simple cardboard box. The method allows you to project the image of the Sun onto a white surface without looking directly at it.

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To build the device you need a cardboard box, a white sheet of paper, aluminum foil, adhesive tape and a needle.

First, cut the sheet of paper so that it can be attached to one of the inside sides of the box. On the opposite side, cut two square holes, side by side. Cover one of them with aluminum foil and fix it well.

Using a needle, make a very small hole in the aluminum foil. This will be the hole through which the light of the Sun will penetrate inside the box.

To use the projector, go outside and stand with your back to the Sun so that the light enters through the hole made in the aluminum foil. Look inside the box at the white sheet of paper. The light will project the image of the Sun on it, and during the eclipse you will be able to observe the shape of the solar disk and the evolution of the phenomenon without looking directly at the Sun.

This video shows the whole process, step by step.

Video source YouTube/@twinklresourcesofficial

The method is a simple alternative to observing an eclipse, but it is important not to look directly at the Sun, either through the projector hole or with the naked eye, as intense sunlight can cause eye damage.

The solar eclipse begins in Europe on the afternoon of August 12

The solar eclipse of August 12, 2026 will be total along a strip that will cross eastern Greenland, western Iceland, northern Spain and northeastern Portugal.

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In Romania, the phenomenon will only be partially observed. Here, the eclipse will begin in the far west around 8:20 p.m. and unfold very close to sunset. Approaching the horizon will give the phenomenon an unusual appearance.

“There will be a Sun ‘eaten’ by the Moon at sunset, and it’s spectacular. It’s not a show like a concert, with flames and fireworks. It’s something calming, something you look at beautifully. But a sunset ‘eaten’ by the Moon a little bit is an image you don’t see every day, not even every year, and maybe not even once in your life.”explained astronomer Adrian Șonka for “Adevărul”.

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