What to check before you buy eclipse glasses in Cornwall

Eclipse glasses are all over social media at the moment, and not every pair being advertised is safe to put anywhere near your eyes. Cornwall Council has spotted a lot of them doing the rounds and wants people to slow down before they buy.

The warning is simple. A genuine pair will protect you. A fake or damaged one could do real harm, and you often cannot tell the difference by looking.

How to tell a genuine pair from a dangerous one

Before you buy or use any eclipse glasses, check they are the real thing. Genuine glasses are ISO 12312-2:2015 compliant and carry a CE mark. Those are the two markings to look for.

If you are not sure a pair is certified, do not use them. The same goes for any glasses that are scratched, torn or damaged, even if they were fine last time. When in doubt, leave them off.

Sunglasses will not do the job

It is worth saying plainly, because it catches people out every time. Ordinary sunglasses are not safe for looking at a solar eclipse. It does not matter how dark the lenses are or how much they cost. They are not built for staring at the Sun, and they will not stop the damage.

No glasses in time? Watch it safely another way

If you cannot get hold of certified glasses in time, you have not missed out. You can still watch the eclipse safely by viewing it indirectly, which means looking at a projected image of the Sun rather than the Sun itself.

Two easy options work well. Make a simple pinhole viewer, or hold up a colander and let it project the Sun’s image onto a piece of paper. Either one turns the eclipse into a pattern of little crescents you can watch without any risk.

The advice from the council comes down to one rule that never changes. Never look directly at the Sun during the eclipse.