Eclipse dos and don’ts

Eclipse-Watching

DO NOT look at the Sun with your naked eyes – the Sun is so bright that it will damage your eyesight, perhaps permanently.

DO NOT attempt to look at the Sun through a normal telescope or binoculars – a single glance at the Sun’s focused light through the eyepiece could be enough to permanently blind you.

DO NOT try to look at the Sun through cloud or fog – enough harmful light will still pass through to damage your eyes.

DO NOT use sunglasses, smoked glass or welder’s glasses to look at the Sun – these DO NOT cut out the harmful ultraviolet and infrared light from the Sun that can do the real damage.

DO NOT use camera film/negatives – these are no protection against the hash light of the Sun.

DO NOT attempt to look at the Sun through transparent sweet wrappers, or foil. They DO NOT block enough of the Sun’s light to prevent you from damaging your eyesight.

DO NOT try to observe the eclipse by reflecting the Sun off a mirror, a CD, water in a river or even a puddle. The Sun’s light will still be too strong.

DO NOT combine specialist solar glasses with looking through binoculars or a telescope – the heat from the focused sunlight will melt through the glasses

DO NOT use solar filters that come as eyepieces for your telescope – all that focused light can cause the eyepiece to crack, letting through harmful amounts of sunlight that will blind you.

DO NOT use specialist eclipses glasses or Mylar film that has been damaged, either scratched or has holes. This will render them useless and result in you damaging your eyesight.

DO NOT leave the finderscope of your telescope uncovered if you are using your telescope to project an image of the eclipse – small children can accidentally look through it.

DO use dedicated eclipse glasses made of Mylar film. If purchasing solar glasses, check that they are CE approved and display the CE kite mark.

DO use eclipse glasses sparingly – continuous use can potentially see them damaged from the Sun’s heat.

DO use safe methods of observing the eclipse, such as projection through a telescope, or pinhole cameras. These are the safest ways to view the eclipse.

DO use specialist solar telescopes such as those manufactured by companies such as Lunt and Coronado.

DO supervise children at all times.

And finally, DO enjoy the eclipse safely!