Forgot Your Eclipse Glasses? At the MBL, Many Ways to View the Sun Were On Hand

A crowd of scientists, students, and staff gathered on the MBL Quad today to view the solar eclipse, bringing an array of home-made, found, or bought viewing devices!

Ruth Moon of Kings College, London, inverts a pair of binoculars to focus a projection of the eclipse on the ground in front of her. Photo: Emily Zollo

"I brought these binoculars here for whale watching," said Moon, a student in the MBL's Biology of the Inner Ear course. "I haven't seen any whales yet."

MBL Senior Scientist Zoe Cardon's binocular set-up includes a foil sheet to provide shadow and contrast to the image. Photo: Lydia Mathger

Jim McIlvain uses a Zeiss pinhole "I found in my office" to focus the eclipse projection on the back of his iPhone. McIlvain is the Zeiss representative based at MBL. Photo: Diana Kenney

Zoe Cardon demonstrates how latticed fingers can act as pinholes, projecting several images of the eclipsed sun on the ground. Photo: Diana Kenney

At left, Martha Tarafa, Director of Major Gifts at MBL, uses a home-made cardboard box eclipse viewer while Ashley Bolbrock, Manager of Development Operations and Stewardship, views the projection through her hands. Photo: Diana Kenney

Those who thought and bought ahead had eclipse-viewing glasses. Photo: Emily Zollo

Grass Fellow Heather Rhodes of Dennison University made this eclipse viewer that also shows her lab spirit! Photo: Diana Kenney