Partial annular eclipse

While checking my Twitter feed on the train this morning I discovered that Sydney was to be treated to a partial solar eclipse... right now! Fortunately, you can safely view an eclipse with nothing more than a sheet of card and a pin - enough to make a pinhole camera. I had to share this with the kids at Alex's childcare.

As soon as we arrived we got out a sheet of card, punched a tiny hole in it with a pin, held it out towards the sun and projected the image on a sheet of white paper. You could certainly see where a chunk of the Sun had been taken out by the Moon.

Back at the office I made a more "sophisticated" version by cutting out one side of an old tissue box, punching a tiny hole in one end and sticking some white paper at the other. Then I went outside an photographed the results. Unfortunately , the lens protector on my camera didn't fully retract, but, hey, at least I got something for surprisingly little effort.

When I returned to my desk I discovered that the education group had been running an eclipse viewing session outside an adjacent building, but it's kind of nice to have done something yourself.

ABC Science has more information about the eclipse.