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Experts urge people to check that their glasses are safe for viewing the solar eclipse; otherwise, they may burn their eyes.
Regular sunglasses are not good because they do not block enough visible, ultraviolet or infrared light. The same goes for telescopes and binoculars without filters.
Eclipse viewing glasses, which block 99 percent of ultraviolet light, have been out of stock for weeks in many places, while counterfeits flooded Amazon, eBay and Temu.
Fortunately, there is an easy way to determine if the glasses you purchased will protect your eyes from burns.
And if you waited too long to buy glasses, or yours are fake, there are simple eclipse viewers you can make at home from a cereal box or paper plates.
People use special protective glasses to observe a total solar eclipse in Mazatlan, Mexico, April 8, 2024. The only eclipse glasses that are safe for viewing the eclipse are those labeled ‘ISO 12312-2’ or ‘ISO 12312- 2:2015.’
READ MORE: Masters fans receive protective glasses at Augusta
“We’ll get to experience a solar eclipse and Augusta on the same day,” one fan commented. ‘Nothing bad.’
The only glasses you should use to glimpse the celestial phenomenon are those that comply with the international standard ISO 12312-2, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA).
This standard, established by the International Organization for Standardization, specifies that the glasses in question reduce visible sunlight to safe levels and block both ultraviolet and infrared radiation.
Ultraviolet radiation damages the retina the most, while infrared radiation can generate heat that causes thermal damage.
If you purchased eclipse glasses, they should be labeled “ISO 12312-2” somewhere.
Many times it is on the arm.
It can also be written as “ISO 12312-2:2015”, which means the same thing.
In any case, your glasses should protect you.
Although President Donald Trump caught a glimpse in 2017, it is not safe to look directly at an eclipse because it can burn the retinas of your eyes, the part that captures light and sends signals to the brain.
You might be tempted to take a peek at the eclipse, as Donald Trump did during the 2017 eclipse, but the resulting damage could be irreparable.
The moon begins to eclipse the sun on April 8, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. Millions of people have flocked to areas of North America that are in the “path of totality” to experience a total solar eclipse.
A family poses for a photo with a large display of eclipse glasses in front of the pagoda at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Monday, April 8, 2024.
People across the United States are preparing to watch this rare event on Monday, including golf fans at the Masters in Augusta, Georgia, where organizers handed out official solar visors provided by the tournament.
When the moon passes in front of the sun, for people who are in the so-called ‘path of totality’, the sun will be completely obscured.
For about four minutes, the moon will completely block the sun.
But outside that narrow window, and for everyone not in the path of totality, there is no time when it is safe to look directly at the sun.
That is the reason why glasses are used to view solar eclipses.
A simple solar eclipse viewer can be made by cutting a hole in a paper plate. You can see the light shining through another plate, which will show the shadow of the eclipse as it passes.
It is not safe to view the eclipse through regular sunglasses, tinted lenses, a telescope, or other optical magnifying glass without a filter or with a polarized filter.
Some people report wearing a welder’s mask to view eclipses, which is fine as long as you know they comply with the ISO 12312-2 standard.
The standard requires glasses to block at least 97 percent of infrared light and 99.9968 percent of visible light.
If you choose to view the eclipse without proper protection, the result may be “eclipse blindness.”
This condition “occurs when the eyes are exposed to the sun and the light exposure damages or destroys the cells in the retina,” according to the AOA. saying.
If you don’t have eclipse glasses, you can create an eclipse viewer to look at it indirectly.
A simple solar eclipse viewer can be made by cutting a hole in a paper plate.
You can see the light shining through another plate, which will show the shadow of the eclipse as it passes.
Another method, a little more complex, is a cereal box eclipse viewer: