Eclipse glasses running low
On Monday all of North America will be treated to an eclipse of the sun.
It’s an event that some may witness only once in their lifetime, so when will it happen? And how can you view the eclipse safely?
News 11 searched all over the Imperial Valley and shows us where you can score a pair of eclipse glasses and how you can view the eclipse if you don’t.
“The band of totality actually goes from Oregon down to South Carolina, stretching across much of the middle portion of the United States. In Southern California you’re going to experience a partial eclipse,” said Ken Waters, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The eclipse will begin at 9:09 a.m. When the moon touches the sun’s edge and will end at 11:51 a.m.
The peak time will be at 10:26 a.m. when the moon is closest to the center of the sun.
“It’s never safe to look at the sun directly, even with sunglasses, even the darkest sunglasses just because the light from the sun is so intense it will cause damage to your eyes,” said Alex Mancilla, Optometrist with Advanced Eye Care
Lowes is sold out of the eclipse glasses, and Walmart is quickly running out. But there are other options if you don’t score a pair.
Our news team made our own eclipse viewing box using foil, tape, paper and a cereal box.
“So this is another way, but this is a way you’re not looking at the sun directly, so this is safe because light rays aren’t coming directly into your eyes. What you’re looking through is, you have a little pinhole here where the sun is going to be coming through, and the sun is actually towards your back. So you’re kind of like this, the light is coming in here and you’re looking at the image or the shadow of the sun through the bottom here,” explained Mancilla.
If you do have eclipse glasses, there is a proper way to use them.
“The important thing is when you put them on, you want to put them on when you’re not directly viewing the sun yet, so you want to be looking away, put them on, then you can safely look at the sun. As you can see these don’t let any light through at all, so these look completely dark right now,” added Mancilla.
And a reminder when buying or using eclipse glasses, you want to make sure they are ISO certified, that’s how you know you’re not using or purchasing a counterfeit pair that can cause harm to your eyes.
