DEDICATED TO THE SAFE OBSERVATION OF THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF APRIL 8, 2024!

until ECLIPSE DAY!
 
 
Another TOTAL ECLIPSE
is coming to
North America!

It’s the Great North American Eclipse!
...and we want everyone to see it!
 
Your use of this site is contingent on your understanding and agreement that you will comply
with all the rules and protocols for eye safety when observing any solar phenomenon.
 
Eye Safety – Eclipse 2024 blog

Eclipse Blog

The world is coming to North America to see an eclipse!

Eclipse2024.org – Are your eclipse glasses safe?

PLEASE NOTE - Eclipse2024.org and eclipse2017.org provide glasses that are made by the same REPUTABLE companies: Rainbow Symphony and American Paper Optics.  Everything you read below about eclipse2017.org applies equally to eclipse2024.org! (From just before the 2017 eclipse): We are getting the question about safety a lot, now that the news media has come out with lots of stories about counterfeit or knockoff brand glasses, and the dangers of using...

Will I be able to get into a viewing area?

Rules will be set up by each community's security officials and governments, and eclipse2024.org will host a community page dedicated to the plans each individual community is making. If you want to get into an official viewing area, and plan ahead, you should be able to. So long as you are in the path of totality, and you have good weather, you will be able to see and experience totality.

How do I take pictures of the eclipse?

We have a page dedicated to eclipse photography, and you can get lots more information both there and on our eclipse links page.  The bottom line is: Unless you have special solar filters for your camera and telescope, you can't even set up for pictures like this - the heat of the sun will melt your lenses (not to mention your eyes)! If you want to pull out a point...

Can I use a telescope to watch the eclipse?

ONLY if you have a special solar filter that fits over the end of the scope (not at the eyepiece!), AND you know how to use it! Those are about $200 each, so you should know whether you have one or not! Ditto for binoculars - if you bring them, you can ONLY use them during the brief period of totality. You CANNOT look directly at the Sun in any...

How do I look at the Sun without going blind?

This is a biggie. You CANNOT look at the Sun while ANY PART of its bright disk is still visible. The moon does cover quite a bit of it during the partial phases leading up to totality, but you HAVE to use special solar viewing glasses (also called "eclipse glasses") to look at it during the partial phases. You MUST use these glasses to look at the sun during this...

I have a department-store telescope with a “solar filter” – can I use that to look at the Sun?

NO!   NO!   NO! These cheap "filters" are manufactured and marketed as being able to be inserted into the eyepiece.  That means that by the time the Sun's dangerous rays get to the filter, they have been magnified by your telescope, and are being focused directly on that filter.  The cheap glass cannot take all that thermal energy, and it WILL crack!  If you are looking through the scope when...

Can I wear eclipse glasses over my regular eyeglasses?

Yes, you can certainly put them over regular eyeglasses, as I myself do! The reality is that these "eclipse glasses" are really solar filters, and are designed to be used for only a brief time, as you glance at the partial phases to check on the progress of the eclipse - and be able to actually participate in the excitement as the partial phase grows - toward totality! People will...