Source: Sean Rayford / Getty
Happy Great American Solar Eclipse Day 2017!
Even though some of us have been looking forward to this day for months, others are just now catching up to the hype and scrambling to find the best plug to watch this once in a lifetime phenomenon. Don’t sweat it—we’ve got your back with some of the best practices to see the historical event safe and sound.
Check out our tips below.
1 Try to Find (Safety Certified) Glasses
While the likelihood of finding glasses is kind of slim last minute, here’s a list of the official retailers. It’s important to buy from certified retailers to ensure the glasses are safety certified. So if you find some sus street vendor trying to sell you some glasses on the low…don’t take the L. Here are some ways to make sure that your glasses are effective.
- 7-Eleven
- Best Buy
- Bi-Mart
- Casey’s General Store
- Hobby Town
- Kirklands
- Kroger
- Lowe’s
- Maverik
- Pilot or Flying J
- Walmart
- BH Photo and Video
2 Create a Pinhole Projector
If the glasses didn’t work out, don’t sweat it—it’ll only take a bit of arts and crafts to get your life right. NASA has outlines for 2D/3D pinhole projectors you can use on its website. You can also make one out of a cereal box, a munchkins box, or any other similar box available to you.
3 Watch NASA’s Video on Eclipse Safety
It’s always a good idea to catch some safety tips from the professionals. NASA provided an instructional video on the parts of the eclipse you can watch with and without glasses. You can watch it below.
4 Livestream the Eclipse
If you’re not equipped for the event, the safest bet would be to watch it online. NASA will be livestreaming the event on their website from 12 pm EDT to 4 pm EDT. You can watch it here, Facebook Live, YouTube Live, and more.
5
Be Careful Taking Pictures On Your Phone
While we might think taking a photo of the eclipse can be a safe back up for lack of glasses or a projector, experts at the Columbia University Medical Center warn to use caution.
“Many people will think it’s safe to take a selfie with the eclipse in the background because they aren’t looking directly at the sun,” said Dr. Tongalp Tezel, a retina expert at Columbia University Medical Center. “What they may not realize is that the screen of your phone reflects the ultraviolet rays emitted during an eclipse directly toward your eye, which can result in a solar burn.”
For more information on how to take photos without getting hurt, check out the NASA website.
6 Only Look At the Sun In the Path of Totality
The Path of Totality is where observers can see the moon completely cover the sun. This is occurring in select cities around the nation, you can check the locations here.
