Solar eclipse glasses are needed for safety, but they sure are confusing. What to know.

Doyle Rice, Eric Lagatta, Cybele Mayes-Osterman and Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY
Updated ·4 min read
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Editor's note: An updated cloud forecast for the April 2024 total solar eclipse is in. Read the latest eclipse forecast and news as of Wednesday, April 3.

You can't control the weather or the traffic, but one thing you can do right now ahead of the total solar eclipse is to get yourself a pair of special eclipse glasses, so you can safely view the cosmic spectacle.

The total eclipse will cross over a dozen states as it traverses from Texas to Maine on the afternoon of April 8. Millions of people are expected to travel to see it.

Astronomers and other experts say that eclipse watchers should wear specialized eyewear crafted to protect your sensitive retinas from permanent damage. And that means eclipse glasses.

Fortunately, solar eclipse glasses are still readily available from plenty of vendors across the internet. Unfortunately, there's fears of fake glasses, and sometimes testing your glasses at home is the best way to know if they're safe.

Here's what to know about eclipse glasses and where you can get a pair of your own.

A group of children watch the solar eclipse in 2018 with their protective glasses at the Tempe campus of Arizona State University.
A group of children watch the solar eclipse in 2018 with their protective glasses at the Tempe campus of Arizona State University.

Where to find solar eclipse glasses

As the eclipse approaches, many places like local libraries, astronomical observatories, schools and other public agencies are providing proper eyewear, often for free.

Or you can just order them on the internet: Many eclipse websites like GreatAmericanEclipse.com and NationalEclipse.com sell a variety of eyewear products, along with plenty of other gadgets one may need to see the eclipse.

Of course, Amazon and plenty of other online retailers are also selling solar eclipse glasses in bulk, meaning you'll have plenty to share with your friends and family. American Paper Optics, the nation's largest supplier of eclipse glasses, even offers express shipping across the country.

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

Watch out for fake glasses

With online platforms like Amazon listing thousands of eclipse viewers, fears of fake or counterfeit glasses have grown.

"We do see glasses coming from China that have printing on them that say they're made in the U.S. or that they are made by one of the American manufacturers," Rick Fienberg, the project manager of the American Astronomical Society's solar eclipse task force, told USA TODAY.

When in doubt, buyers should refer back to the list of official sellers and manufacturers maintained by the AAS, which communicates directly with sellers and manufacturers and checks test reports.

The list includes well-known North American manufacturers like American Paper Optics, as well as several large grocery and retail chains in the U.S. like Walmart, Lowe's and Kroger.

More: How to safely watch the total solar eclipse: You will need glasses

Real, but rare, examples of eye damage

Doctors and a rare set of eclipse watchers have warned about watching the eclipse without adequate eclipse glasses or with the naked eye that has resulted in rare cases of eye damage. The damage occurs because people's natural response to squint when looking at direct sunlight does not get triggered when a partial eclipse happens.

Such was the case with one Staten Island woman who watched the 2017 eclipse using faulty glasses that caused severe retinal damage. Doctors from Mount Sinai's New York Eye and Ear Infirmary chronicled this luckily rare case in JAMA Ophthalmology, a medical journal. The woman told doctors that she had gazed at the moon passing in front of the sun through what she thought were protective glasses. The damage on her left retina, the area at the back of the eye where the brain receives images, looked like the shape of a partial eclipse.

"It's a very focused beam of high-energy light from the sun itself,” Dr. Avnish Deobhakta, an ophthalmologist at the Mount Sinai infirmary who treated the woman, told USA TODAY. “It can actually destroy parts of the retina, and certainly destroy it in the shape of an eclipse.”

How can you test eclipse glasses?

NASA shared an easy method to check eclipse glasses at home.

Buyers should put on their glasses and look at a bright light, like a flashlight. If the light is "extremely dim," or doesn't appear at all, the glasses are safe, Susannah Darling, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said in an instructional video. Viewers should be able to see the filament of the lightbulb, not the glow surrounding the bulb.

Get free glasses

With safety in mind, there are ways to get free solar eclipse glasses.

The online eye retailer Warby Parker is offering members of the public a pair of ISO-certified glasses starting Monday. Warby Parker retail locations nationwide, find one here.

But there are plenty of other retailers giving out free glasses that range from Smoothie King to the protein bar Perfect Snacks, which will give out glasses alongside a chocolate brownie flavor.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Your guide to eclipse glasses for April 8: Everything to know