Can you watch a solar eclipse with a mirror?

Question

Can you watch a solar eclipse with a mirror?

Answer 1

Basically, you can not. It damages your eye even if you look at the Sun using a mirror.

I would advise you to get glasses designed specifically for these occasions, it's probably way cheaper than 5$

Answer 2

Yes you can but why would you want to?  The light will reflect off a mirror just like any image, in fact if you use a reflecting telescope then you are using a mirror, (or two at least).

Caution: the intensity of the sunlight will cause damage to vision unless proper procedures are followed to reduce the light to about .001 percent or less.

Answer 3

if you have a small, high-quality mirror, you can use it for "pinhole" projection.  Normally, in pinhole projection you make a small hole in paper or foil or something and look at the image of the sun projected on the ground in the shadow of the sheet of paper/foil.  But to get a big image, you have to hold the paper really far from the ground.  So I use a mirror.  Place the mirror somewhere far away from your house where you have a window or door open (garage works well because the door is large).  Point it so the reflection of the sun off the mirror is shining in through the door or window and shining on a flat wall. You will have a large image of the sun on the wall.  I use a piece of modeling clay to position the mirror so I can leave it there and examine the projection image.  You'll see the image slowly move across your wall due to the rotation of the earth, and you'll have to go out and re-adjust your mirror every few minutes to keep the sun's image on the wall.

I used to do this with a 1" mirror about 100-200 feet from my garage.  I'd end up with an image of the sun as large as a basketball.  Large and clear enough to see sunspots and clouds pass by the sun, and it would be great during an eclipse.  Basically, a mirror makes it much easier to make a large pinhole image of the sun.  Without a mirror, you'd need a screen with a hole in it suspended hundreds of feet above the ground to get an equivalent image of the sun, which is hard to do.  

good luck, and do not look directly at the sun's reflection in the mirror because this is the same as looking directly at the sun.  

Answer 4

not if you value your eyesight.

the usual idiot-proof way to observe an eclipse is with a pinhole camera.

Answer 5

No.

But, you can cup your two hands together to make a small hole, and look at the shadow on the ground.

Best is with a telescope with a full aperture solar filter.

Safest is to use the Internet.

Answer 6

here you go dude

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=how...

Answer 7

I dont think so, cause the light is same but what do i know. Ask someone who knows that stuff

Answer 8

I dont think so.

Answer 9

Not for direct viewing only for redirecting an image onto a surface. For direct viewing use a welding filter or similar dark filter.