Ensuring Your Eyes are Protected While Enjoying the Historic Event

A solar eclipse is a rare event and can be very exciting to experience. However, no one event is worth sacrificing your vision.

Looking directly at the eclipse today can be extremely harmful to your eyes and can damage them irreparably. Just because you don't feel pain when looking at the eclipse without adequate protection, does not mean severe damage is not being done to your retina.

If you choose to view the eclipse, ensure you are wearing eye protection that is ISO 12312-2 rated. In the hype leading up to this eclipse, many fake versions of these viewing glasses were produced and sold. These knock-off versions will not protect you when viewing the eclipse. Ensure the glasses you plan to wear are the genuine article prior to use.

If you're wary of looking at the actual eclipse, even with proper protection donned, you can experience the eclipse online by visiting NASA's live stream of the event.

If you are at all uncertain about what you should do to protect your eyes, consult an optometrist.