For many of us, Monday’s Solar Eclipse will be the last opportunity of our lives to experience one. If you plan to try and watch it, there are several ways to do it safely. It is crucial to protect your eyesight, not looking directly at the sun out of curiosity is a good start. (My 5-year-old granddaughter knew NOT to look up during our 2017 zoo visit). You have plenty of time to educate yourself and prepare.
Here are some important safety guidelines to follow during a total solar eclipse.
View the Sun through eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer during the partial eclipse phases before and after totality.- You can view the eclipse directly without proper eye protection only when the Moon completely obscures the Sun’s bright face – during the brief and spectacular period known as totality. (You’ll know it’s safe when you can no longer see any part of the Sun through eclipse glasses or a solar viewer.)
- As soon as you see even a little bit of the bright Sun reappear after totality, immediately put your eclipse glasses back on or use a handheld solar viewer to look at the Sun.
If you can’t get your hands on the protetcive glasses or make a viewing box, there are plenty of resources offering live viewing on the Internet. Here’s the link for one livestream site.