Solar eclipse: How to watch it without blinding yourself

Solar eclipse excitement is building, but one astronomer is trying to warn the masses: Don’t look up into the sky with the naked eye during Sunday’s solar eclipse. To do so is to risk serious eye injury and even blindness, he said.

“Looking up into the [solar eclipse] without the proper protection is just dangerous,” said astronomer Stephen Edberg at NASA‘s  Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “You need proper eye protection.”

Beginning late Sunday afternoon, a large swath of the western United States will be positioned to see the solar eclipse and the so-called “ring of fire” created as the moon passes in front of the sun but doesn’t quite obscure it. The result will be a dramatic image as the sun’s rays shoot from behind. (This assumes that clouds don’t get in the way.)

In Los Angeles, the eclipse will begin about 5:25 and then hit its peak at 6:38 p.m. It will all be over for the West Coast by 7:43 p.m., Edberg said. The late time of day may mislead some folks into believing that it’s safe to look directly at the eclipse. “That’s not the case,” he said.

So, what is proper eye protection? It’s not sunglasses. “It’s not stacking sunglasses” one on top of the other either, said Edberg. Peering through a curtain, or through a car window that has been treated with a sun-filtering screen also won’t protect the eyes, he said.

Edberg said safe options include glasses specifically made for looking at the sun – these cost 85 cents apiece. Contact a camera store or a hobby store to purchase one in time for Sunday’s celestial show.

He also suggested finding a hardware store that sells welding equipment. The No. 14 welders glass — the darkest glass available — would be perfect for holding up to the sun for safe viewing, he said

Another option is to find an astronomy club, museum or observatory that is holding an event to usher in the solar eclipse.

“The sun can be viewed directly only when using filters specifically designed for this purpose,” according to NASA. “Such filters usually have a thin layer of aluminum, chromium or silver deposited on their surfaces that attenuates ultraviolet, visible, and infrared energy.”

Also note that sun damage may not be immediately painful, so it’s not safe just because you can look up into the sun without feeling searing pain.

“Damage to the eyes comes predominantly from invisible infrared wavelengths,” NASA cautions. “The fact that the sun appears dark in a filter or that you feel no discomfort does not guarantee that your eyes are safe.”

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This is one of the rare eclipses in our Hemisphere where the so-called Ring of Fire appears.   It can be viewed best in Northern California around Redding from 5:30-6:38 approximately.  It seems the moon is smaller than the sun (joke) and doesn’t completely block out the brilliance of the sun.  Thus the rays of flame appear around the darkened outline of the moon.  BUT we are cautioned in the strongest terms not to look directly at the sun….at all.  According to this report one can buy  inexpensive glasses made just for solar viewing—run to the mall this afternoon and get one if you feel compelled to gaze at the disappearing sun.

I think our primitive forebears must have feared the end of the world when they saw the sun being hidden by the lesser moon……no doubt that start of many myths.  Now that we know what it is, are we any less amazed at the spectacle of the mighty and wonderful consistency of our Universe.  The sun and stars and moons move in their orbits and swing through the skies, determining the days and night, tides, winds, seasons, all the known patterns of our existence.  And before it, and through it and behind it all, the All-Powerful Creator God,  who gave us all we need for life and fulfillment.

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