WORCESTER, Mass. - Dr. Brian Thamel and his team at Vision Source in Worcester are selling special solar eclipse glasses to help shield people from the potential permanent damage the sun can cause, even when it’s covered by the moon.
What You Need To Know
- A total solar eclipse will take place on Monday, April 8
- Vision Source in Worcester is joining the many optometry offices who are spreading awareness about protecting your eyes during the eclipse
- For Worcester, the eclipse will start at about 2:15 p.m. and end at about 4:30 p.m., according to NASA
“If it's a total eclipse, just during that moment, which is not really in our area specifically, you can actually look at it," Dr. Thamel said. "But as soon as it is passed, the total eclipse, then it's the most dangerous part because the sun doesn't look so bright.”
Dr. Thamel said as the moon passes the sun in an eclipse, it’s important to have protection from the harmful rays, so his office stocked up on glasses.
“About a month or so ago when we started hearing more about it, we ordered a thousand of the ISO approved eclipse glasses,” Thamel said.
The International Organization Standardization, also known as ISO, sets international standards for thousands of things, including solar eclipse glasses.
Some parts of Massachusetts will see more than 95% coverage of the sun, weather permitting, according to the state. Thamel said viewing the solar eclipse with your bare eyes, even just for a few seconds, can cause permanent damage.
“Actually about 30% of Americans don't realize that you can damage your eye by looking up during an eclipse," Thamel said. "So, without either the ISO approved solar eclipse glasses, which have the right amount of filtration, you can use what they call a pinhole projector that you can make yourself. The main thing is, make sure you're not looking directly at it, even if it doesn't seem so bright because it doesn't take very long for that sun to cause permanent damage to the retina.”
Thamel said they’ll be selling the solar eclipse glasses for $3 while supplies last. All the proceeds will go to Optometry Giving Sight, a global nonprofit which focuses on the prevention of blindness and impaired vision.
Otherwise, you can still find pairs of ISO-approved glasses online or in some stores. You can also try to make a pinhole projector which could be a fun science project for the weekend.