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Solar Eclipses: Eclipse Safety

This guide provides the resources, both print and online, for the recreational and safe viewing of solar eclipses. Browse the resources below or check the shelves at your Delaware Public Library in the following area: 523.78

Eclipse Safety

The only safe way to look directly at the uneclipsed, partially eclipsed, or annularly eclipsed Sun is through special-purpose solar filters, such as “eclipse glasses” or handheld solar viewers. Homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses, even very dark ones, are not safe for looking at the Sun; they transmit thousands of times too much sunlight.

Eclipse Glasses

 

Boy wearing eclipse glasses

A total solar eclipse is about as bright as the full Moon — and just as safe to look at. But the Sun at any other time is dangerously bright; view it only through special-purpose “eclipse glasses” or hand-held solar viewers that meet the ISO 12312-2 international standard for such products. Homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses, even very dark ones, are not safe for looking at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed Sun. Credit: Charlie Bates, courtesy Mark Margolis / Rainbow Symphony


The American Astronomical Society and NASA have recommended the following companies as sources for ISO-certified solar viewing glasses.

Glossaries