Improper Eclipse Glasses Could Ruin Your Eyesight
Eclipse Fever is sweeping the Gem State (no thanks to the Today Show) and as you're finalizing your plans for where you're going to watch it, you may want to make sure you have the right glasses!
It seems like wherever you go, there's a vendor popping up to either hand you FREE eclipse glasses or try to sell you a pair. In theory, these glasses are supposed to protect your eyes from UV rays that could permanently damage your retina while watching the total solar eclipse but according to KIVI-TV, not all of these eclipse glasses were created equal.
NASA is only behind using glasses from the following manufactures: American Paper Optics, Baader Planitarium, Rainbow Symphony, Thousand Oaks Optical and TSE 17. They also want you to make sure that the code "ISO 12312-2" is printed somewhere on your viewers, meaning they're up to the international code for eclipse viewing sunglasses.
The glasses are more important for people watching the eclipse here in Boise, than other places in Idaho that fall in the path of totality (which means the moon will actually totally block any of the sun's rays from reaching your eyes.) Because Boise will only experience 98% percent totality, KIVI-TV recommends keeping your glasses on during the entire eclipse viewing experience so you don't risk your sight as there's no way to reverse damage to your eyes from staring directly at the sun.
Another Alternative to Viewing Eclipse
Don't have a pair of glasses yet? You can try to make one of the pinhole projectors that we tried to make back during the partial eclipse in 2012. Although, I recommend following these directions to a T. We didn't have any tape or glue, so we tried to hold ours together with chewed gum. Spoiler alert? It didn't work.