From Solar Glasses to Pinhole Projectors, Here’s How To Watch the Eclipse Safely With Your Kids
The solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, is shaping up to be spectacular. It’s projected to pass right over North America, and NASA estimates that 99 percent of people in the US will be able to see a partial or total eclipse, including all 48 contiguous states and parts of Alaska and Hawaii. Compared to the 2017 eclipse, the 2024 eclipse also has a wider and more populous zone of totality (where people will be able to see a total solar eclipse), passing over Texas, through the Midwest, and up into the Northeast. As long as the skies stay clear (cross your fingers!), we should be in for quite a show.
It’s the perfect time for families to do some eclipse-viewing, especially because the next solar eclipse in North America won’t be until 2044. If you’re planning to enjoy this one with your kids, careful planning is crucial. “Eclipses can be a fun, educational event to watch with your child, but serious eye damage is a risk,” Dr. Kelly Hodson Unkrich, chief of pediatric ophthalmology at Nemours Children’s Health tells SheKnows. As we get closer to the April 8 solar eclipse, “parents should make time to talk with their children about the damage that can occur to their eyes by looking directly at the eclipse without proper eye protection,” Unkrich explains. “Kids will likely be excited and interested in the eclipse, and parents should encourage their curiosity — and safety.”
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So what exactly is dangerous about watching the eclipse, and what can you do to prevent any damage to your eyes, or your kids’? SheKnows talked to the experts so you can watch the upcoming celestial show without stress.
Eclipse 2024: Why are eclipses dangerous for your eyes?
“There’s nothing more dangerous about the sun on the day of the eclipse than any other day of the year,” says Dr. David Rogers, chief of ophthalmology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and chairman of the AAPOS Solar Eclipse Task Force. It’s just that, on a normal day, we’re not tempted to stare up at the sun the way we are during an eclipse. “The only thing that makes the eclipse dangerous is that it’s interesting to look at,” Rogers tells SheKnows.
A solar eclipse occurs when the Earth, the moon, and the sun are all aligned. The moon gets in between the Earth and the sun, causing it to block part or all of the sun, depending on your location. While the sunlight might grow less intense during this time, until and unless it becomes a total eclipse — with all of the sun blocked by the moon — the sun’s dangerous ultraviolet and infrared are still beaming down, making staring at the sun as dangerous as it would be on a cloudless, sunny day.
“It’s dangerous to look at the sun at any time, even for a few seconds,” says Unkrich. “Although the sun may not seem as bright during a solar eclipse, its powerful rays can still harm eyes.”
The danger comes from the ultraviolet and infrared rays of light that the sun emits, Rogers explains, which can harm the cells in your retinas. “Unfortunately, when those rays are focused inside of our eye, they focus right in the center, that area that’s most important for straight ahead viewing, for being able to read and recognize people’s faces,” he says
Just a few seconds of exposure can lead to permanent damage in these cells, Rogers says. And for kids specifically, Unkrich adds, “it’s dangerous because it may not be painful at first and they may not know their eyes are being harmed until it is too late.”
What if you’re in the zone of totality?
Vision damage is possible at any point when the sun is not being totally eclipsed by the moon. If you’re not in NASA’s predicted zone of totality, you’ll only see a partial eclipse and should take safety precautions for the entirety of the eclipse (more on those precautions below!). If you are in the zone of totality, there will be a short time when you can safely view the eclipse without protection, because the sun will be completely covered.
First, you’ll go through the partial phases of the eclipse, as the moon slowly moves across the face of the sun. You’ll need protection during this time. “This could last 60 to 80 minutes, depending on where you’re at,” Rogers says. When you start to approach totality, you’ll notice the sky getting progressively darker, until it starts to look like “a 360-degree sunset,” he explains. Eventually it’ll become as dark as night, and you’ll even be able to pick out some stars and planets in the sky.
Right before the moon completely covers the sun, you’ll see the diamond ring effect — a sliver of sunlight around the moon and one bright spot, like the diamond on a band. Then that bright spot will disappear, Rogers says, and you’ll just see a rim around the moon. This is the corona, or the sun’s atmosphere, aka “the star of the show,” Rogers says. “This is safe to look at [because] it isn’t emitting the infrared and ultraviolet rays that are damaging and dangerous.” In fact, if you’re wearing eclipse glasses, you’ll need to take them off to view the corona “because they block 100 percent of the visible spectrum of light. You won’t be able to see anything.” The time of totality will vary depending on where you are, but NASA estimates it will last between four and a half and three and a half minutes.
Once the totality is over, the eclipse will reverse and go back through the partial phases, which means you’ll need to put your protection in place again. You’ll know when to do that, Rogers says, because you’ll see that diamond ring effect again as the moon gradually moves away from the face of the sun.
Again, the only time you can safely look at a solar eclipse without protection is when it’s in totality. You’ll know it’s safe to remove your protection when you can no longer see the sun through your eclipse glasses or viewer.
Eclipse 2024: How to watch safely with your kids
As we get closer to the eclipse, now’s the time to start preparing and talking to your kids about how to watch it safely. As a parent, you should emphasize that while using eye protection might feel weird or uncomfortable, “it is important for the long-term health of their eyes,” says Unkrich. “Parents should provide age-appropriate information about the effects of staring at the sun including blurry vision, blind spots, and trouble seeing colors or shapes.”
When it comes to how to view the eclipse safely, you have a few options.
Wear eclipse glasses or use a handheld solar viewer. Eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer allow you to directly look at the eclipse, because they dim light across all wavelengths. “These have lenses that are thousands of times darker than those of regular sunglasses,” Unkrich says. (Note: regular sunglasses will not protect your or your child’s eyes during a solar eclipse.) A few important reminders: make sure you’re buying a legitimate viewer or pair of glasses, which will be stamped with the ISO 12312-2 standard. Only buy from manufacturers approved by the American Astronomical Society (Amazon isn’t recommended!) and follow their tips for spotting counterfeits as well. Then, once you have your glasses or viewer, make sure it works. Rogers recommends putting your glasses on indoors and turning on your phone flashlight. “You shouldn’t be able to see any ambient light or furniture, or shapes and shadows around the house, but if you hold your phone up really close to the glasses, you should be able to see the filament [of the flashlight],” he says. Then, take the glasses or viewer outside on a sunny day and use them to look at a reflection of the sun. If you can do that comfortably, without any pain, try glancing up at the sun itself while using the glasses or viewer. “It should be comfortably bright to look at, and you should see crisp edges of the sun,” Rogers says. Avoid wearing glasses or using a viewer that is wrinkled, bent, cracked, or damaged in any way.
Use a pinhole projector. If you’re up for a little craft time, try making a simple pinhole eclipse projector with your kids. All you need are two pieces of paper, a bit of tinfoil, some scissors, and a pin or pencil to poke a hole with; check out NASA’s instructions to make your own. This is a super-safe option because, in order to use the projector, you have to face away from the sun. “You hold it up with the sun behind your head, so it’s indirect,” Rogers explains. “You can safely look at what’s going on behind you because you’re seeing the shadow of the sun, and you can watch the partial phases of the eclipse.”
Use the NASA eclipse cam if there’s cloud cover. Can’t get your hands on any physical eye protection? Watch the eclipse remotely with NASA’s streaming options, which can also help if there’s cloud cover blocking the view in your area. TV channels and streamers will also be showing live coverage of the eclipse.
Have a safe transportation plan. Traffic will likely be heavy on eclipse day, especially if you’re in or around the zone of totality. “People need to have a safe plan of where they’re going to watch it, and they have to have a safe way to get from plan A to plan B if that first area is cloudy,” Rogers says. Remember that you can’t drive while wearing eclipse glasses, as they block visible light, and you might even have a hard time pulling over to watch the eclipse if there are lots of cars on the road. Have a back-up plan and keep your cool on the road, especially if you have little ones in the car.
PS: If you’re outside watching the eclipse, make sure to stock up on sunscreen too.
Symptoms of eclipse vision damage
So what signs of vision issues should you look out for, during and after the eclipse, and what should you do if your child starts complaining of any? Common symptoms of solar retinopathy (light damage to the retinas) include:
a blind spot in the middle of your vision (a schatoma)
metamorphopsia, when objects appear to be distorted
sensitivity to light
decrease in vision
These symptoms can occur in one or both eyes, Rogers says, and they can show up immediately or hours later.
If you think your child has vision damage from the eclipse, contact an ophthalmologist for an eye exam. “We’ll do some special testing with photos and special imaging to see what the retinal damage really entails,” Rogers says. “There are some ways to predict to predict if the damage will be permanent or not.” If their vision is in the range of 20-50 to 20-70 during the exam, “there’s a chance the vision will recover,” Rogers says.
If it’s worse, the damage may be permanent, and there are no treatment options. “The only treatment is prevention and educating people,” he says, so make sure to stock up on your eclipse protection ASAP to enjoy this rare cosmic phenomenon safely.
Before you go, check out our favorite cold and flu products for kids:
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