What to know when you're searching for eclipse glasses

AccuWeather

There are a few key pieces of information you'll want to be aware of when buying eclipse glasses for 2024's total solar eclipse.

Transcript

00:00 All right, let's talk now about the 2024 total solar eclipse.

00:04 That's only two months away.

00:06 Tonight, we're getting you ready for the big event.

00:09 Meteorologist and eclipse chaser Tony Wabek joins us now

00:13 with what you need to know if you're still

00:14 trying to finalize things.

00:16 - Yeah, if you're still trying to finalize things,

00:21 most folks who are doing the serious photography,

00:23 all that jazz, you're probably already well in advance.

00:26 But for the normal mountain junch of you

00:28 who are just thinking, "Oh, that's coming up here soon.

00:31 "What do I need?"

00:33 It's gonna be these, a pair of eclipse glasses.

00:35 That is going to be the most basic thing

00:37 that you are gonna need to watch a good chunk

00:40 of this eclipse coming up.

00:41 The good news is during totality,

00:43 you can take the eclipse glasses off

00:44 and everybody can look up and enjoy that

00:46 for up to four minutes and change

00:48 if you are in the direct path of totality.

00:51 But these eclipse glasses,

00:53 something that might be hard to come by.

00:54 If you are getting in, we're about two months

00:56 out of the way right now and you're thinking,

00:57 "Where can I go to get these?"

00:58 Obviously, your first thought is looking online.

01:01 You could be looking at places like Amazon.

01:03 Be careful though when you are looking at places like Amazon

01:05 because you wanna be buying from a reputable seller.

01:08 Other things to do, especially if you're kind of

01:09 near the path of totality,

01:11 is check out some of your local places,

01:12 libraries and what have you.

01:14 They all have those eclipse glasses,

01:15 especially if they're holding events during the eclipse.

01:17 But there is one key thing you need to know

01:20 when you get a hold of those eclipse glasses.

01:23 - One, two, three, one, two, dash, two.

01:26 - Now, if the glasses have that number printed on them,

01:28 they should be safe to use,

01:29 but you still wanna make sure that you take that extra step

01:32 and buy them from a reputable vendor online.

01:35 The American Astronomical Society has a list of vendors

01:39 that you could purchase glasses from.

01:41 - All right, and if you are looking at the eclipse glasses,

01:46 they have a lot of that written kind of right up in here.

01:48 You see some of the small print

01:50 that's got that number on it.

01:51 And Melissa, I'm gonna take a quick trip back to the '80s

01:54 'cause I was thinking to myself,

01:55 "If I could tell the kid in me

01:57 "all the fun eclipse stuff I was gonna chase,

01:59 "my kid would be like, 'Your future's so bright,

02:02 "'you gotta wear eclipse shades.'"

02:04 (laughing)

02:05 - I love that, Tony.

02:06 And I also love that you broke this down for us

02:08 because I asked for Christmas eclipse glasses

02:11 and I got them.

02:12 So I'm gonna have to double check that number

02:14 'cause that seems very, very important.

02:16 I got some for the whole family with my Christmas gift.

02:19 So I'm very excited, much like you,

02:21 putting on those eclipse shades.

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