See the Sunspots for Yourself

As you might know, there are currently two huge groups of sunspots on the surface of the Sun. They’re really easy to see if you have a pair of binoculars or a telescope. Don’t look at the sun directly, you can damage your eyes, but there’s an easy way you can project an image of the Sun so you can see the spots. All you need is a piece of paper.

You line up the binoculars so that light from the Sun is passing through the eyepiece and onto a piece of paper you’re holding. Move the binoculars around a big and you’ll eventually see a big bright circle moving around your paper. That’s the Sun. Then, focus the eyepiece of the binoculars so that the circle of light has a nice crisp edge. You should be able to see the sunspots right away. NASA has some great instructions on how to do this.

Let me know how it goes!

Fraser Cain
Publisher
Universe Today

P.S. Hotmail users are going to be experiencing some delays for the next while. There’s a problem with the way Hotmail tries to limit SPAM that’s clogging up all the mail they’re receiving. My newsletters are sometimes taking days before they’re getting accepted.

Fraser Cain

Fraser Cain is the publisher of Universe Today. He's also the co-host of Astronomy Cast with Dr. Pamela Gay. Here's a link to my Mastodon account.

Recent Posts

JWST Uses “Interferometry Mode” to Reveal Two Protoplanets Around a Young Star

The JWST is flexing its muscles with its interferometry mode. Researchers used it to study…

56 mins ago

A Cold Brown Dwarf is Belching Methane Into Space

Brown dwarfs span the line between planets and stars. By definition, a star must be…

2 hours ago

Measuring Exoplanetary Magnetospheres with the Square Kilometer Array

Life on Earth would not be possible without food, water, light, a breathable atmosphere and…

3 hours ago

Psyche is Still Sending Data Home at Broadband Speeds

When I heard about this I felt an amused twinge of envy. Over the last…

17 hours ago

Uh oh. Hubble's Having Gyro Problems Again

The Hubble Space Telescope has gone through its share of gyroscopes in its 34-year history…

23 hours ago

Astronomers Will Get Gravitational Wave Alerts Within 30 Seconds

Any event in the cosmos generates gravitational waves, the bigger the event, the more disturbance.…

3 days ago