DIY kit building

I had to cater for some friends at an eclipse party and made a pinhole projection device with a robust cardboard tube four inches in diameter and 25 inches long. A second (viewing) tube, two inches in diameter, was melded into one end at an angle and glued into place. Both ends of the main tube were covered in stiff white paper and the opposite end of the viewing tube was pierced centrally with a needle. The main tube was then rested on the viewer’s shoulder with their back to the Sun, and with care (and much patience) it was possible to see the projected solar image without fear of eye damage.

A recent house move meant my main telescope – a home-built 6-inch Newtonian, including 300 hours of mirror grinding and polishing – had to be dismantled and my enthusiasm for cold nights waned. But sunspots always hold their fascination and so I cut the pinhole projector’s main tube at 17 inches, glued a jam-making funnel to the non-viewing end, formed an interface tube with my bird-watching telescope using a fibreglass repair kit for strengthening a toilet roll tube, and now have a sunspot observation tool of some capability. Unfortunately, it seems I have created this device at a Maunder Minimum!