Six months in a beer can

Six months in a beer can

Northern summer has arrived, which means it's time to open a can of beer. A beer-can solargraph, that is. By inserting a roll of photo paper into an empty beer can, and poking a tiny hole in the metal side, the can becomes a pinhole camera capable of recording the sun's motion across the sky. "I left my beer-can solar graph on a fence post for 6 whole months," says David Mead of Dunster, Somerset, UK. Yesterday he opened it and this is what he saw:

 

"There was some damage to the can on collecting!" says Mead.

Nevertheless, it made an eerily beautiful image. The lowest arcs were traced by the winter sun of Dec. 2013. The highest arc was made by the sun on the eve of the 2014 summer solstice. Occasional gaps are caused by clouds.

For the record, soda cans work, too. Beautiful results have also been obtained using old-fashioned film canisters. For more information about the variety of ways to make your own device, check out these 6-month Solargraph How-to Guides: #1, #2, #3

 

From SpaceWeather.com