Space and Physics
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On Saturday, people across the Americas witnessed a "ring of fire" eclipse, the last annular eclipse before the total solar eclipse of 2024.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.As well as awesome photos of the eclipse itself, some have posted photos and videos of "eclipse shadows" on the ground, to the confusion of others.
#EclipseSolar #Eclipse2023 pic.twitter.com/aUCV6QrYBk— X-Tok (@X_tik_tok)
So what is causing all the projections of the eclipse on the floor?
If you want to view the eclipse without burning your retinas (known as solar retinopathy) and don't have access to eclipse glasses, a pinhole camera is a good way to go. Simply put, you take one piece of paper with a tiny hole poked through it (NASA recommends taping foil to it) and hold it above another. As the light passes through the pinhole, it creates a projection of the eclipse on the paper held beneath it.
Of course, this doesn't just happen with intentionally-made pinholes. Under the right circumstances, you can get some truly weird effects.
Gaps in the light between the leaves of trees can create the same effect. On ordinary days, when the sun is out, you will see projections in the shape of the sun on the floor. During the eclipse, you get incredibly pretty projections of the eclipse.
