One of the deepest solar eclipses in decades is tomorrow – but make sure you can see it without blinding yourself.
It will be a total solar eclipse for around 15,200,000 people, mainly in northern Spain, Iceland and Greenland, but partial for UK observers.
As it’s a partial solar eclipse, a sliver of the sun will still shine, meaning it can’t be looked at with the naked eye without damaging your sight.
Stargazers in the UK will need to buy special protective eye gear called solar eclipse glasses to see the celestial dance.
The International Organization for Standardization recommends buying eclipse glasses that have the ISO 12312-2:2015 certificate, so they are safe to look at the eclipse with.
Except, ordering a pair online might be a bit of a tall order. Many glasses are now sold-out online, with some customers saying their orders won’t even arrive until after the eclipse.
Observatories and libraries have even closed up shop altogether, owing to the ‘unprecedented volume’ of orders for reliable paper-framed glasses.
On Reddit, a user shared a photograph of people queuing outside a camera shop in Whitechapel, London, to nab a new shipment at 2am today.
Avoid using ‘knock-off’ or older glasses
Experts have told Metro that this protective gear is the only watch to directly look at the partial solar eclipse.
‘Looking directly at the sun can cause serious and permanent eye damage,’ says Tania de Sales Marques, senior astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich in London.
‘Even during a solar eclipse, the sun’s light is intense enough to harm the sensitive cells in the back of your eye.
‘The only safe way to look directly at the sun is by using certified eclipse glasses or a properly fitted solar filter on a telescope or binoculars.’
If you already have a pair, inspect it. Bin anything that has scratches or other signs of damage, Marques stresses.
A pair of sunglasses won’t cut it, Marques says, as they don’t reduce glare or block out harmful UV rays – light invisible to humans – like eclipse glasses do.
As panicked stargazers empty the shelves, make sure you’re buying from ‘reputable sources’, he adds, as knock-off pairs won’t offer protection.
Daniel Mohacek, CEO of review authenticity platform TruthEngine, agrees.
Stargazers should watch out for phony eclipse glasses, as scammers and unscrupulous sellers will be trying to make some quick cash.
‘Don’t simply choose a pair because it has thousands of five-star reviews or because the product description says it is “‘certified”, he says.
‘Look carefully at who is actually selling it, whether the seller can be identified and whether the safety claims can be verified.’
Mohacek adds that shoppers should check out the reviews, especially if it’s just a wall of glowing ones.
‘If anything about the seller, reviews or safety claims looks suspicious, it simply isn’t worth taking the risk with your eyesight.’
Can you make solar eclipse glasses?
You sadly can’t. But all hope is not lost if you don’t manage to buy a pair.
You can watch the eclipse indirectly with a DIY pinhole camera, which projects an image of the eclipse onto the ground that is safe to look at.
Also called a box projector, you just need scissors, white paper, tape, tin foil and a pin.
Cut the paper to fit the inside bottom of the box to act as the projector screen, using tape to hold it in place.
Cut two holes on the top of the box and stick the tin foil over one of the holes, punching a tiny hole in the foil. The other hole on the cardstock will act as the eyehole.
Face away from the eclipse and you’ll see the trickles of light stream through the pinhole, projecting the eclipse into the box.
The most inexpensive option is free – your hands.
Place one hand at about a 90° angle and open your fingers slightly, allowing the sunlight to stream through onto the ground or a hard surface.
As the moon bites the sun, the moment will be projected through your fingers.
You can also use anything with holes to do the same thing, such as a colander or cheese grater.
Your final way to see the eclipse is to catch a livestream, such as on Nasa or the Royal Museums Greenwich YouTube account.
Be careful, though, with picking a website, as scammers are creating phony livestream sites so they can pickpocket people’s data, says NordVPN.
The cyber security company’s chief technology officer, Marijus Briedis, says that during the 2024 eclipse in North America, crooks made fake SpaceX livestreams featuring a deepfake Elon Musk.
‘The technology has only become more convincing since then. A scammer can take existing footage, branding and even AI-generated video or audio and create something which looks like a legitimate live broadcast,’ Briedis adds.
‘People should be suspicious if a supposedly free eclipse stream asks them to create an account, enter payment details, scan a QR code or download anything before they can watch.’