Looking for solar eclipse glasses? Here's where to buy them and how to spot fakes

If you haven’t already purchased eclipse glasses to view the total solar eclipse on April 8, time is quickly running out.

The good news is that you can find legitimate eclipse glasses online and in stores right here in Pensacola.

Keep reading to find out how to spot fakes when shopping online and where to find eclipse glasses locally.

Do you really need eclipse glasses?

Yes, you absolutely need eclipse glasses if you want to catch a glimpse at a partial eclipse, which is what we’ll see here in the Florida Panhandle. Looking at the sun without proper protection can burn your eyes, damage your retinas and even cause blindness. So, do yourself a favor and leave the sunglasses at home.

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How to spot fake eclipse glasses

Don’t run out and buy eclipse glasses just yet. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of bad actors out there willing to make a quick buck at someone else’s expense. While there isn’t a way to tell whether some glasses are 100% safe by simply looking at them, there are some easy ways to spot the ones that aren’t safe.

According to the American Astronomical Society (AAS), the first thing you should do when testing a pair of eclipse glasses is to try them on indoors. If you can see anything through them, save for exceptionally bright lights, put them back. Authentic eclipse glasses should completely blot out everything but the brightest light − and even that should appear faint.

Did your glasses pass the test? If so, move on. If not, put them back.

If your glasses pass the indoor test, move on to the outdoor test. Take the glasses outside and glance at the sun for less than a second. Then look around at your surroundings. Like the indoor test, you shouldn’t be able to see anything through the glasses except the sun’s reflection, which should again be faint.

Take another look at the sun − again, for the less than a second. You should see a sharp-edged, round disk (the visible face of the sun) at a comfortable brightness.

Depending on the type of glasses you have, it may appear white, blue-white, yellow or even orange.

Once you’ve safely concluded all three tests, it’s reasonably likely that your glasses are safe. But if you’re not 100% confident, use them sparingly. The AAS recommends only looking at the sun through your glasses for about two to three seconds every five minutes.

Where to buy eclipse glasses?

The best way to know your glasses are safe is buy purchasing them from reputable manufacturers. AAS has provided a list of North American manufacturers, listed here:

• American Paper Optics / eclipseglasses.com

• Rainbow Symphony

• American PaperWear (Solar Rollens viewers)

• Grafix Plastics (sheets & rolls, wholesale only)

• Halo Eclipse Spectacles

• Celestial Optical (EclipseGuard glasses^ | SolarShield sheets)

• Thousand Oaks Optical

• Seymour Solar (Hyperion sheets)

• Flip'n Shades (clip-ons for baseball caps)

• DayStar Filters

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You can purchase most of these online, but there are plenty of authorized dealers scattered across the U.S., too. Here is a list of large retail chains that carry ISO-compliant eclipse glasses:

• Warby Parker (available in stores for free starting April 1)

• Buc-ee's

• H-E-B

• Menards

• Staples

• Lowe's

• Wegmans

• Cracker Barrel

• Walmart

• Kroger

• Meijer

• 7 Eleven

Eclipse glasses found at Murphy gas stations around Pensacola have also been tested and will work well for last-minute protection.

What if I can’t get eclipse glasses in time?

Create your own pinhole projector to project the sun onto a nearby surface. The American Astronomical Society offers instructions to set them up.

Here's how to safely make an eclipse viewer and how to use it:

• Get a cardboard box, a white sheet of paper, tape, scissors, and piece of aluminum foil.

• Prick a pinhole in the foil.

• Tape the foil over one side of the box.

• Tape the white sheet of paper to the inside of the other side of the box.

• Stand with the sun behind you.

• Light will stream through the pinhole, projecting an image of the sun onto the white paper.

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

• Do not look at the sun through the pinhole.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Need eclipse glasses? Here's where to buy them, how to spot fakes