How to make sure your eclipse glasses actually work

Popular Science ^ | August 14, 2017 | Rachel Feltman

[Leaning Right]

You've planned your road trip, downloaded your science apps, and bought yourself a pair of shiny new spectacles: you're ready for the eclipse. But is your eyewear is up to the task?

With the Great American Eclipse approaching, demand for eclipse glasses—with special lenses designed to keep the sun from harming your peepers—is surging. And counterfeit glasses are everywhere. In fact, Amazon is so swamped by reports of possibly unsafe glasses that the company is allegedly sending out recalls and refunds for products that are certified as eclipse-safe.

[alternatives?]

I will watch it on You Tube.

[smokingfrog]

http://www.bigsky.ab.ca/uploads/2/8/9/7/2897969/solar-eclipse-pinhole-projector-thumb_orig.png

[SkyDancer]

By the time the blast goes off, you’re toast. Literally; no time to do anything.

[libstripper]

Just for anyone planning t photograph the eclipse:

I have a Panasonic Lumix FZ300 camera with a 52 mm filer ring and bought a solar filter for it. That filter blocks all but .001% of the sunlight. I’ve shot three pictures of the sun through that filter with the camera extended to full 40x zoom. The sun appears as a reddish golden orb. I have be very careful with the filter because it’s actually a piece of very thin metal foil, as are many of the other astronomical filters used for solar observation. It cost a little over $52.00

[libstripper]

The picture of the sun in your animation is exactly how it looks through the 52 mm solar filter I bought for my Panasonic Lumix FZ 300 camera.

[going hot]

thanks for the info

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I will just use my welding hoods I used when I was a welder. Not the glasses for gas welding, the stick welding hoods.

[day10]

I am in the Cincy, Ohio area and play in a golf league on Mondays with a bunch of friends. This Monday we are all showing up early, with our glasses, to play an extra 9 holes during the eclipse. :-)

[DouglasKC]

Bought mine months ago...got good ones cheap.

[bgill]

Can’t be bothered with a shadow so will be saving my money.

[Delta 21]

You need to have a glow in the dark ball so you can sink a birdie during totality.

[Delta 21]

20-25% sky cover is all I can get for now. After last weeks tennis ball size hail and tornado, maybe I am due.

[tumblindice]

A Holiday Wish
by Steve Martin

.............

“And if I had four wishes that I could make this holiday season, first would be the crap about the kids.. second would be for the $30 million.. the third would be for all the power.. and the fourth would be to set aside one month each year for an extended 31-day orgasm, to be brought about slowly by Rosanna Arquette and that model Paulina somebody, I can’t think of her name, of course my lovely wife could come, too. She’s behind me 100% on this, I guarantee you.”

[dfwgator]

Just make sure the glasses don't have "Opti-Grab"

[Delta 21]

I could hear him in my head reading that. Classic!

[Billthedrill]

Amazon did leave us "high and dry" by waiting until one week before the event to tell us that the glasses we purchased two months ago (and which, by the way, are properly marked) aren't recommended for use. Amazon didn't really make a lot of friends by waiting that long and being unable to provide replacements, which at this stage turn out to be sort of difficult to get. There's more than just darkness to judge these by - the problem is transmitted UV light that you don't see. Better to miss the thing than to cause irreparable retinal damage.

That said, the pinhole-in-a-shoebox actually does work. And looking directly at the totality doesn't hurt. Should be an interesting experience and a massively congested drive in most places. Oh, well...