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The annular solar eclipse that will be visible from across the United States on Saturday, October 14, can be harmful to the naked eye. As such, it's best to observe the sun during the time of the eclipse through a solar viewing glass or a handheld solar viewer. Regular sunglasses are not safe for this purpose either.
An annular solar eclipse happens when the moon renders between the Earth and the sun, coming to a point in its orbit where its distance from Earth is slightly increased than normal. The moon then moves and lines up in front of the sun, blocking all the light from the star except for its edges. Due to the bright ring seen around the moon, the eclipse is also known as the “ring fire” eclipse.
If one is unable to afford solar protection glasses to witness the October 14 phenomenon, they can also get their hands on these glasses for free. In 13,000 public libraries across the United States, five million pairs of solar viewing glasses are being distributed for free as part of the Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries project, funded by the Gorden and Betty Moore Foundation.
How to get to the public libraries to get free solar eclipse glasses?
Upon entering the website https://www.scigames.org/eclipse/map/, one would come across an elaborate and interactive map, which has all the public libraries across the country located in it. An individual needs to enlarge or zoom in on the map, and they'll be able to easily get the names of the nearby libraries and plan a visit accordingly.
However, Andrew Fraknoi, an astronomer who is a part of the SEAL project, said that it is unlikely that these libraries will have any solar-viewing glasses left on October 14. He suggested the earlier people who want to witness the eclipse, get in touch with a nearby library, the better.
Each of these libraries was given about 500 glasses.
“People should get their glasses early and save them in an envelope so the special protective material doesn’t get scratched,” Andrew Fraknoi said.
Where can one buy solar eclipse glasses?
If one prefers to buy their own solar viewing glasses, they can enter the website https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters and search for a particular supplier of solar filters, and viewers among the list of manufacturers provided. All of these suppliers have been assessed by the American Astronomical Society.
While there are dozens of distributors, retailers, and vendors of these solar protection glasses, the U.S. only has a few manufacturers, including Rainbow Symphony, and American Paper Optics, who make these glasses.
One can also find these glasses for purchase on Amazon, where the price range varies between $7 to even $79.
Solar viewing glasses are specially designed eyewear for directly viewing the sun. They filter out the radiation from the star which can potentially cause eye damage. These glasses are either made of silvery mylar or black polymer that blocks 10% of the ultraviolet and infrared light.
