I used the projection method which is an easy way to do it if you don't have fancy camera equipment.

Where I live in New England the eclipse of the sun was only partial. That's okay by me. I still was very motivated to see it! In 2017 I traveled a long way to see the total eclipse. More about that here.

This eclipse would require a significant trans country trip so I just settled in to get some pictures and a little bit of video right near where I live in Massachusetts. Interesting thing is that the eclipse actually started before sunrise so I missed some of it. But here are Some pictures and I will talk a little bit about how to do an easy process like this to get pictures of the Sun. And you can do this any time. It doesn't have to be during an eclipse. This is called "eyepiece projection".

Note that the telescope nerd also has a video for this event. It is at the bottom of the page.

I like this one because you can see a thin layer of clouds right in the image.

How to do this?

This is a process called eyepiece projection. You just need a telescope, any kind of camera or cellphone with a camera and a big piece of white cardboard. Or a sheet of printer paper will be okay too.

Hold your paper or board about 6-10 inches from the eyepiece and there you go. You can then focus it. It really is that simple.

Couple of safety notes. Of course you cannot, under any circumstances, look through the telescope or the finderscope at the sun! So...

So.... how do you align the telescope and get it pointed right at the sun without looking through it?

You use the shadow of the telescope! Let's take a look at a picture we already looked at.

The sun is partially eclipsed sun is in the eyepiece and projected onto the foamboard. But, look at the shadow of the telescope. It is lined up straight.

Picture it this way. If you point a pencil directly at the sun it would cast a small circle as a shadow. If you turn the castle sideways it would cast a pencil long shadow. Same with the telescope. If you turned it sideways it would cast a long shadow of the side of the telescope. As you point the telescope toward the sun that shadow gets smaller and smaller until it is pointed directly at the sun, with minimun shadow and the sun shows up in the image.

Watch the video here: