Sun Image

A pinhole aperture place in a beam of sunlight casts an image of the sun onto a screen, revealing solar features including sunspots. A prism is placed in the beam of sunlight gathered by a heliostat to redirect a small portion of the light. One face of the prism is masked except for a hole 1/8” in diameter. Light passing through the hole is reflected at 90 degrees by total internal reflection, creating an image of the sun about 8 inches in diameter with a resolution roughly equal to the diameter of the the pinhole.

For Information About Exhibit Sales:

Kua Patten
Exhibit Services Director
kpatten@exploratorium.edu
+1 415-353-0409 (phone)

Email this page to a friend.