How To Protect Your Eyes For The Eclipse on Monday

Eclipse Goggles

One of the most spectacular astronomical events you will ever see is happening on Monday August 21st across Canada and The United States and Mexico, but the only safe time to look at the eclipse with your naked eyes is during the 'totality' phase when the moon blocks out the sun, and it gets quite dark, according to NASA. If you want to view the eclipse during the other phases, you need to wear eclipse sun glasses to protect your eyes. Looking at the direct sun will damage your eyes, by burning your retinas, and the effects may not become apparent for a few months.

The solar eclipse glasses only cost a couple of dollars but many stores are sold out of them. They must say ISO-12312-2 to be safety rated for the eclipse. Also acceptable are welder's goggles rated 14 or higher, or a sun filter for a camera or telescope.

International Safety Rating

Some Best Buy and Walmart locations still had some safety goggles available recently. There were some counterfeit versions that did not meet the NASA safety rating of ISO-12312-2 as well. So make sure you check for the rating.

A Safe Alternative To Safety Goggles

Space.com has an easy solution. You can make a pinhole projector in a piece of cardboard to view the sun. See the diagram here: https://www.space.com/36941-solar-eclipse-eye-protection-guide.html

Here's what NASA says about pinhole projection:

An alternative method for safe viewing of the partially eclipsed sun is pinhole projection. For example, cross the outstretched, slightly open fingers of one hand over the outstretched, slightly open fingers of the other, creating a waffle pattern. With your back to the sun, look at your hands’ shadow on the ground. The little spaces between your fingers will project a grid of small images on the ground, showing the sun as a crescent during the partial phases of the eclipse. Or just look at the shadow of a leafy tree during the partial eclipse; you'll see the ground dappled with crescent Suns projected by the tiny spaces between the leaves.

The eclipse is a rare sight to see. In Canada, there won't be another one until 2044.

McLean's magazine describes exactly what the eclipse is:

"The earth, moon and sun are in perfect alignment, with the moon in the middle casting its 100-mile-wide shadow on the earth. But for those under the shadow, the sight is awesome if the sky is clear. For about an hour the sun will seem to be nibbled away as the black disk of the moon gradually passes in front. When only a sliver of sun remains, the moon’s shadow looms on the horizon like an impossible storm on a cloudless day. Within moments the shadow immerses the watchers in blackness, the brighter stars and planets appear, and the dimming sun is replaced by a ghostly ring of pearly light—the sun’s atmosphere, the corona. Because totality is seen from within a near-circular shadow, the horizon in every direction is bathed in a twilight glow."

Be Safe and Have Fun as you look to the sky on Monday, and enjoy the unforgettable eclipse!

gifts from Giphy

source: https://www.space.com/36941-solar-eclipse-eye-protection-guide.html