Eclipse Pegboard 3.0

Pegboard 1.0

While driving to Winnemucca for last October's annular eclipse, I stopped by the Lowe's in Idaho Falls to pick up a panel of pegboard. Nothing crazy; just 2" x 4". The holes in the pegboard act as pinholes for for the sunlight. They'll cast "sunbelt" images any time the Sun is out. They'll cast sun-crescents during partial eclipses. Pegboard 1.0  was great fun at our impromptu remote Nevada rest stop eclipse party.

But I didn't like how uniform it was. Identical holes at identical spacing.

Pegboard 2.0

So I decided that for April 8, I'd dirty things up a bit with some duct tape. I placed some strips across the grid and punched holes. The tape heals itself to some extent, but to different extents on different holes. I also just used some tape to partially cover some holes. There are probably better ways to dis-uniform-ify the panel. Since this is a project intended for partials, I may not need to wait until 2045 to try other techniques.

Pegboard 2.0 varies the apertures of the pinholes. Some remain wide open. Some are completely blocked. Many are partially blocked.

Pegboard 3.0

Why not add a splash of color? I decided colored transparent bingo chips would be the answer. Out here in the frontier of the Mountain West, you can't just get them at a nearby craft store (I tried!). So, Amazon it was.

I'm taping them down with Scotch "Red" (not "Green") crystal clear tape in a deliberately random pattern. Some holes will get no chip, others will get red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or purple chips.

With Pegboard 3.0, we have a variety of apertures and colors.

Pegboard 3.5

As a physics teacher, I had a few pairs of "rainbow glasses" sitting around. These are cardboard framed glasses with two crossed diffraction gratings for each lens. I cut the lenses up and distributed the film randomly across the board.

Blogger is fairly awful for integrating photos with text. Here's a more complete photo essay/tutorial on preparing pegboard for partials.

Pegboard 3.0 at SmugMug