Where to get solar eclipse glasses, and how to make your own projector

Planning on observing the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8? You'll need the proper glasses, or risk damaging your eyes.

Here's where you can buy solar eclipse glasses online and in stores in Bucks County, and how to build your own solar eclipse projector.

Home Depot, Lowe's, Target, Walmart offering solar eclipse glasses in-store and online

Home Depot, at 650 Easton Road in Warrington, has a limited quantity of solar eclipse glasses available for pickup.

The Lowe's at 1400 East Lincoln Highway in Langhorne has a few pairs of solar eclipse glasses available for pickup.

The Target at 800 Rock Hill Drive in Bensalem has different models of solar eclipse glasses available for pickup, and has a wider array of solar eclipse glasses available online.

For people shopping online, Target is promising delivery well before the April 8, if the solar eclipse glasses are purchased soon.

Similarly, the Walmart Supercenter at 299 Valley Gate Drive in Warrington, currently has several solar eclipse glasses in stock, and dozens of additional solar eclipse glasses available online.

What should I look for when buying solar eclipse glasses?

NASA advises skygazers to plan accordingly and ensure they have the safe, and simple, equipment needed for solar viewing.

"When watching a partial or annular solar eclipse directly with your eyes, you must look through safe solar viewing glasses — “eclipse glasses” — or a safe handheld solar viewer at all times. Eclipse glasses are NOT regular sunglasses; regular sunglasses, no matter how dark, are not safe for viewing the Sun," read a portion of NASA's solar eclipse advisory. "Safe solar viewers are thousands of times darker and ought to comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard. NASA does not approve any particular brand of solar viewers.

"Always inspect your eclipse glasses or handheld viewer before use; if torn, scratched, or otherwise damaged, discard the device. Always supervise children using solar viewers."

Your solar eclipse glasses primer: You'll need eye protection for the solar eclipse. Here's what to know about safety glasses

So how are solar eclipse glasses different from that pair of Ray-Bans you have?

Well, they let in entirely too much light than is safe for our eyes when looking directly at the sun. Certified eyewear, on the other hand, is held to an international safety standard and is 100,000 times darker to block nearly all visible, infrared and ultraviolet light.

Often made with a polyester film coated in aluminum, the glasses are highly specialized but also ridiculously common and easy to find – if you know where to look. As the eclipse approaches, many places like local libraries, astronomical observatories, schools and other public agencies will provide proper eyewear, often for free.

How to make your own low-tech solar eclipse projector

It may be fun to DIY a solar eclipse kit, and NASA has several tips to consider before assembling a projector.

"You can make your own eclipse projector using a cardboard box, a white sheet of paper, tape, scissors, and aluminum foil. With the Sun behind you, sunlight will stream through a pinhole punched into aluminum foil taped over a hole in one side of the box," read apportion of NASA's guide. "During the partial phases of a solar eclipse, this will project a crescent sun onto a white sheet of paper taped to the inside of the box.

"Look into the box through another hole cut into the box to see the projected image."

Erie in direct path of solar eclipse; how to best observe there

Big events — the kind that fill hotel rooms and provide a shot of adrenaline to the local economy — come in all shapes and sizes.

An event that could be far more fleeting — at 3 minutes and 42 seconds — is expected to draw some of the biggest crowds to Erie in history.

How will Erie prepare for the influx of people all angling for a view of this astronomical event? Here's what Presque Isle State Park officials had to say.

Motorist guidance for the solar eclipse: Checking out the solar eclipse next month? Don't park on highways, gather at rest stops

Early April is usually a slow time at the park, but the solar eclipse that day is expected to bring up to 30,000 people to Presque Isle, depending on the weather, said Matt Greene, the park's operations manager.

In Erie, People are encouraged to find places other than the bayfront to view the eclipse because the downtown traffic could be gridlocked on April 8.

Bucks County Free Library to livestream solar eclipse; hosting observation party at two campuses

The Bucks County Free Library will host an observation party at its Levittown campus and will livestream the solar eclipse from its Yardley campus.

"Join us at the library to celebrate the solar eclipse event with crafts and activities for children," read a portion of the eclipse party invite from the free library. "Attendees will receive a free pair of eclipse glasses (while supplies last) to view the solar eclipse!"

The watch party begins at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, April 8, at the Levittown branch, 7311 New Falls Road.

The Bucks County Free Library will also livestream NASA's live broadcast of the solar eclipse from its Yardley campus, 1080 Edgewood Road.

"Join us for a NASA broadcast of the 2024 total solar eclipse," read the invite. "Watch telescope live feeds of the total solar eclipse across the path and grab your eclipse glasses (while supplies last) to view the actual solar eclipse with us at it's maximum coverage around 3:20pm. ln Bucks County, we will see about 90% of the sun covered by the eclipse."

Damon C. Williams covers trending and regional developments for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: You'll need specialized glasses to observe the solar eclipse in April