Solar eclipse 2024: Where to get safe glasses around the Philadelphia area

FOX 29 Staff

PHILADELPHIA - With a once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse just days away, we can't forget the most important thing - eye safety!

Safe solar eclipse glasses are essential to viewing the rare spectacle without causing damage to your eyes by looking directly at the sky.

And with Philadelphia gazers getting ready for 90 percent totality, here's everything you need to know about finding that protective eyewear before April 8:

Where to find safe solar eclipse glass

  • The Franklin Institute has glasses available for purchase at the SciStore, or onsite during their Solar Eclipse Viewing Party

  • Torresdale Library will provide glasses while supplies last during their Solar Eclipse Party

  • The Morris Arboretum and Gardens will provide free glasses with watch party general admission. Kids can also make cereal box viewers

  • The Kimpton Palomar Philadelphia is offering a solar eclipse package with approved eclipse viewing glasses and a smartphone filter

  • Glen Foerd will help you create your own homemade eclipse viewers during their viewing party

  • The Independence Visitor Center is giving away free glasses to the first 50 people attending their watch party

  • Temple University's beach party will view the eclipse through telescopes, on monitors and with protective eyewear

  • Several businesses, including Sonic, Warby Parker and Smoothie King, are giving away glasses

Do you need special glasses for the solar eclipse?

The American Academy of Ophthalmology advises that staring at the sun – partially covered or not – without any protective eyewear is dangerous.

"Staring at the sun for even a short time without wearing the right eye protection can damage your retina permanently. It can even cause blindness, called solar retinopathy," the AAO states.

Damage from solar retinopathy happens when a person stares at the sun for as little as a few seconds, according to the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.

People who may suffer from solar retinopathy could have anywhere between mild to moderate loss of central vision, and it can be permanent.

The only time when it is acceptable to remove the glasses or viewer is for those brief minutes when the moon is completely covering the sun, the American Astronomical Society (AAS) said.

As soon as the sun begins to reappear, you should put your protective eyewear back on.

How to know if your eclipse glasses are safe

Solar filters are used in eclipse glasses and handheld viewers and meet a very specific worldwide standard known as ISO 12312-2.

If you can’t get eclipse glasses, experts say welder’s glasses can work but only if they are rated with the darkest shade level of 14.

Here's a list of verified eclipse glasses and viewers.

How to build your own eclipse viewing box

Supplies:

  • Empty cereal box

  • Aluminum foil

  • Scissors

  • Clear tape

  • Marker

  • Piece of white paper

Instructions:

  • Trace the bottom of the cereal box on a white piece of paper

  • Cut out the traced rectangle

  • Put the cut-out flat against the bottom of the cereal box

  • On the box top, cut out a square on each side of the box top, leaving the center intact

  • You should now have two openings on either side of the box top

  • Cover the left opening with aluminum foil, securing it with tape

  • Use scissors to punch a half-inch hole into the center of the foil

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