Are You Prepared For The Eclipse? Please Be Careful!

It was an ordinary day.  Anxious for the eclipse to arrive in the USA.  Can't remember the last time that we had an eclipse that passed by us in Lancaster, Pennsylvania where I call home.  Well, my local newspaper has had several stories in the newspaper telling about the arrival of the eclipse as well as how to prepare for it.  Lancaster County will experience a partial eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024 with 91.7% of the sun covered by the moon at the height of the eclipse.  The eclipse will start at 2:06 p.m. and reach the point of maximum coverage at 3:22 p.m. and end at 4:34 p.m.  Just about every newspaper, radio and TV station has been warning us about viewing the eclipse without having some type of eye protection since viewing the eclipse without protection can cause permanent blindness.  Pretty scary, so it is!  So, I have purchased a pair of North American Eclipse viewing glasses at my local Lowe's Hardware Store for my wife and myself so we can be protected from the bright light of the eclipse.  

They cost a few dollars each, but my eyesight and vision is worth just about any price that I might have had to pay if I want to view the eclipse.  Please don't try to view the eclipse without some sort of eye protection!  Regular sunglasses will do no good and are dangerous to wear.  There are fake glasses that I have seen, but they will cause eye damage.  A currently unidentified company based in China has been selling potentially unsafe glasses imprinted with the name of a Chinese manufacturer, Cangnan County Qiwei Craft Co., that creates real eclipse glasses.  The unsafe glasses are reported to be no darker than regular sunglasses, which would cause damage to the cornea if used to view the sun during the eclipse.  Solar eclipse glasses are important because they are used to block out all but a meager percentage of the sun's light making it safe to view.  Due to the safety concerns, eclipse glasses are nearly 1000 times darker than everyday sunglasses.  I tested my new lightweight cardboard glasses by looking at a 120w lightbulb and even when I got a few inches from it, I couldn't see anything but darkness.  Couldn't believe that a cheap pair of cardboard glasses could do that, but they really worked.  Genuine eclipse glasses will be branded with the code "ISO12312-2."  This designation comes from the International Organization for Standardization and meets the worldwide standard for looking at the sun from an unmagnified perspective.  If you happen to have eclipse glasses from a previous eclipse, make sure that no obvious damage has occurered in the time since that eclipse, if you want to use them again.  If you don't have the money to buy a pair of suitable glasses you can make a pinhole projector by taking a manila folder and cutting it in half, poke a hole in one half and set the other half down on the ground diagonally against something so that it is facing toward the sun.  Then, with your back toward the sun, hold the folder up so that the small light passing through the hole you punctured is now projecting onto the second piece of folder.  Watch then as the small light reflecting through the hole in the folder hanger as the eclipse occurs.  Do not look directly at the sun through the hole in the folder. Some people think they can look at the sun no mater what they are told, but after a few seconds of that bright sunlight, they may never be able to see again.  Why take that chance?  If you have small children who don't know any better...make sure you keep eye on them so they don't look at the eclipse.  You'll never forgive yourself if you you allow them too look at the eclipse without protection.  I can hardly wait until this coming Monday so I can view the eclipse with my new viewing glasses.  I will still be a little reluctant to look for any length of time, since I have had surgery done to my eyes so I don't have to wear glasses anymore.  The last thing I would want to happen is for my sight to disappear!  I don't even want to think what might happen it that would occur.  Please be careful with your vision this coming Monday.  It isn't worth the short time of looking at the bright light.  You will regret it the rest of your lifetime.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.