Looking at the sun using cardboard no sunspots?

[nexius]

I just did the test below today outside: <br /><br />It is possible to observe the Sun safely and see sunspots by projecting its image onto a piece of white paper. All you need is 2 people, binoculars, a camera tripod, and a piece of white paper on a clipboard or poster board to make a safe sun viewer. Securely attach the binoculars to the tripod. Cover one lens of the binoculars. Now get a piece of cardboard or other stiff paper about 2 feet square and cut a rectangular hole in the middle of it the size of the binoculars. Slip it over the front of the binoculars and tape it into position. It will block the Sun's light from shining beyond the binoculars. Turn your back to the Sun so that you will not be tempted to look at it. Point the binoculars in the general direction of the Sun without looking at it. Now hold the white paper about one foot behind the eyepieces of the binoculars. Without looking at the Sun, patiently and slowly adjust the binoculars on the tripod until they point directly at the Sun and project an image of the Sun onto the white paper. The stiff paper or cardboard you slipped over the front of the binoculars will cast a shadow onto the white paper, so that you will be able to see the Sun's image easily. By the way, the image will be white, not yellow, even though the Sun appears yellow in the sky. Focus the image and, bingo! you're safely looking at the Sun without doing any damage to your eyes. With the help of a partner holding the paper, you can safely draw an image of the Sun on the paper, including any sunspots.<br /><br /><br />It's definitly pretty awesome and easy to do! I only saw a big white circle thats it though. Why couldn't I see any sunspots? Is it just because thats how the sun is at that time of day?

 

[MeteorWayne]

The reasons are two.<br />The sun is currently near the bottom of the current sunspot cycle, so there aren't many sunspots. And the few that there are happen to be on the other side of the sun right now. In 10 or 15 days, they should come around the edge, then you should be able to see some.<br />This is the current visible image of the sun, which you can always get here from SOHO. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[nexius]

Thank's I didn't know that about the sun I always thought their were sunspots on either side haha... goes to show how much I know. <br /><br />They didn't warn me about that over heating problem in the directions! Their very in-expensive k-mart brand 8x40's so I'm not worried about them that much. I only did the test for about 15 sec. so I dont think it should have heated up that quickly. Thanks though! Always good to know

 

[CalliArcale]

The sunspots vary. The SOHO website is fantastic, but for a beginners look at what you can see on the Sun, you might want to start making regular visits to SpaceWeather.com. It's always got a picture of the Sun on the left-hand side. (No sunspots right now, but you missed a sunspot group pretty recently. Even near solar minimum, they do crop up from time to time.) They also have a holographic image of the solar farside, which is made by carefully observing the faint glow of sunlight on interplanetary dust on the other side of the Sun. Sunspots cast shadows in this glow. Alas, this isn't showing any sunspots either. They most recently added a picture of the north auroral oval, which is very nice if you want to try spotting aurora. (If you live in the Southern hemisphere, it can still be helpful; the southern oval is always a rough mirror image of the northern one.) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[Saiph]

for even less equipment I suggest a "pinhole" projector. Essentially a long box (often cardboard construction) with a small hole on one end, and a white piece of paper on the other. Cut a small flap so you can view the white paper and block extra light. Aim at the sun and viola! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p align="center"><font color="#c0c0c0"><br /></font></p><p align="center"><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">----</font></em></font><font color="#666699">SaiphMOD@gmail.com </font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">-------------------</font></em></font></p><p><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">"This is my Timey Wimey Detector.  Goes "bing" when there's stuff.  It also fries eggs at 30 paces, wether you want it to or not actually.  I've learned to stay away from hens: It's not pretty when they blow" -- </font></em></font><font size="1" color="#999999">The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>