Eclipse Coming! Be Careful How You Watch.

DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN/ECLIPSE. DO NOT "BLINK" AT IT, GLANCE AT IT, or PEEK THROUGH YOUR FINGERS.

Also, your sunglasses are useless, even if you stack a few pairs. DO NOT USE SUNGLASSES

Use those Eclipse Glasses. If you have a welding mask, it needs to be #14 shade - the darkest shade available. You will not see anything looking through proper eclipse glasses until you look at the sun. Check this out before you buy any.

The eclipse coming on August 21 (a Monday) can be seen in most of the USA. In this map, the line through Madras, OR to South Carolina will be the 60 mile wide Path of Totality. The farther away from that line you are, the less "eclipse" you can see. (Look at the eclipse images along the left side.)

You can make a handy cereal box-pinhole camera (link to a 1 minute video), but the image will be tiny. If all other efforts fail, look on the ground under a shady tree. The shadows will produce images of the eclipse.

Why all this warning? If you look directly at the sun, you will damage your retina. This happened to me long ago*. You may end up with a blind spot in your vision exactly in the center of what your eye sees. Right where you need to look at the DOT eye chart!

OK, please read line 6 (20/20 vision):

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*When I was about 11 years old, I did look directly at a partial solar eclipse. I could see the eclipse! But after that, for several years, I had a sun-sized blind spot at the center of my vision. It has either repaired itself or I compensate, as I do not have problems now.

How big is the blind spot? Look at the moon (it's safer). That's the part you might be missing if you do not take precautions looking at the solar eclipse.

There's a blinding eclipse coming to Sacramento on Wednesday for me. I call it the company-wide safety meeting.

Wow Errol, when that happened while you were a kid, did the dinosaurs look also? Ha Ha Ha I crack myself up.

Thanks Errol for the info and the map; I'd been meaning to find out everything you mentioned but kept forgetting to look it up.

Wow Errol, when that happened while you were a kid, did the dinosaurs look also? Ha Ha Ha I crack myself up.

Most of the dinosaurs watched. Got blinded. Didn't see the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event coming.

Also, do not attempt to view the eclipse while driving, even if you are wearing a welding helmet.

To be perfectly safe you should only view an artist's rendering of the eclipse, and then only if the artist isn't very good.

Seriously thought, good safety warning. I wish I had taken time off and planned to be in the area of totality.

Kurt, you'll get another chance pretty soon, in 2023.

Here is a link to reputable vendors of solar viewing eyewear just in case you happen to be on hometime, reset, break, waiting at a shipper , etc. Notice that Walmart, Loves and Pilot/Flying J are listed as retail locations. Really cheap, only a buck or two, just be sure to double check the list to verify compliance to standard.

https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters

Here is a link to reputable vendors of solar viewing eyewear just in case you happen to be on hometime, reset, break, waiting at a shipper , etc. Notice that Walmart, Loves and Pilot/Flying J are listed as retail locations. Really cheap, only a buck or two, just be sure to double check the list to verify compliance to standard.

https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters

By now (Eclipse-day minus 6) you'll have to get them over a counter, not by mail.

Basically, you cannot see anything through eclipse glasses except the sun itself. So, if you try a pair, and can see the fluorescent lights in the ceiling of the store, put them back.

Just a bump up. I live in Memphis, TN. The word on radio & TV news, and often posted on highway letter signs, is traffic will be horrible along the totality line. Maybe think Game Day Around The Stadium traffic in that line from Oregon to South Carolina.

Primarily, if you are anywhere in the USA, do not try even glancing at the sun. Read the original post again.