DETROIT – Regular sunglasses aren’t strong enough to protect your eyes while watching a solar eclipse in all its glory.
So long as clouds aren’t blocking the view, the sun will shine bright as ever leading up to and immediately after the total solar eclipse happening Monday, April 8 across North America. The period when the moon completely eclipses the sun -- a dark phase known as “totality” -- only lasts a brief moment.
That’s why anyone planning to watch the eclipse is urged to wear eye protection, since they’ll literally be staring directly at the sun, likely for several minutes on end. But if sunglasses aren’t powerful enough to protect your eyes from damage caused by the sun, what are you supposed to do?
There are special glasses made for eclipse-viewing, sun-staring enthusiasts that have dark filters meant to protect the eyes from brilliant light and harmful rays. These glasses adhere to a safety standard known as ISO 12312-2, which should be printed somewhere on a certified product.
The American Astronomical Society makes a significant effort each year to find and list reliable manufacturers and sellers who have products that meet the specific ISO standard. These products can be actual glasses (often of the paper variety), or other viewing objects referred to as “solar viewers.”
Whatever the product, it’s important to buy one that meets the ISO standard -- which is why the AAS urges people not to buy cheap products from e-commerce sites.
“We do not recommend searching for eclipse glasses on Amazon, eBay, Temu, or any other online marketplace and buying from whichever vendor offers the lowest price,” the AAS writes on its website. The AAS also warns of fake and counterfeit products sold on these sites that may not offer you any protection from the sun.
You can find the entire list of vendors that meet the requirements the AAS’s website here.
There are some large chains that are selling safe solar viewers and filters, though not all locations have them. The AAS says people can buy glasses and filters in store at the following large chain businesses:
- Warby Parker (available in stores for free starting April 1 while supplies last; limit two per person)
Shoppers are urged to not buy glasses or viewers on those businesses’ websites, however, since “some chains use different suppliers for their websites than they do for their stores,” the AAS writes.
With the eclipse quickly approaching, any eclipse-viewing products ordered online now may not arrive in time.
Still, here’s a list of North American manufacturing companies that produce certified solar filters, eclipse glasses, and/or “handheld solar viewers” from the AAS. Many of these products can be purchased online:
- Flip’n Shades (clip-ons for baseball caps)
- Celestial Optical (EclipseGuard glasses^ | SolarShield sheets)
- American PaperWear (Solar Rollens viewers)
- Seymour Solar (Hyperion sheets)
Quick eclipse safety tips
When wearing ISO-compliant solar viewers, it’s important not to look at the sun through a camera lens, telescope, binoculars or any other device. The concentrated solar rays will burn right through the filter, and can cause serious eye injury.
If you don’t have any glasses to wear during an eclipse, you can make your own viewing device called a pinhole projector. It works by letting the light from the sun shine through the pin hole, projecting an image of the sun inside -- protecting your eyes.
Cameras -- including cellphone cameras -- should also be equipped with a special filter before you take photos or videos of the eclipse. Many companies that sell paper eclipse glasses also sell ISO-compliant filters for cellphone cameras.
Larger cameras also require filters to protect them from the sun, though different filters from cellphone cameras.
---> Why a solar eclipse could ruin your phone camera
---> Most of Michigan will see 99% of total solar eclipse. Is that enough?