Printable · A4

WATCH THE ECLIPSE
WITHOUT DAMAGING YOUR EYES

Never look at the Sun without certified eye protection

The Sun is always bright enough to damage your eyes, eclipse or not. The retina has no pain receptors, so you can injure your vision without feeling anything until the damage is done.

Glasses on, glasses off, glasses on

The phases of a total solar eclipse: partial phases on both sides, labelled Partial eclipse (use filter), and totality in the middle, labelled Total eclipse (no filter)

  1. Glasses ON

    While any part of the Sun is visible, even a thin crescent.

  2. Glasses OFF

    Only during totality, when the Moon hides the Sun completely.

  3. Glasses back ON

    The moment the first bright point of the Sun reappears.

Outside the path of totality (Rabat, Casablanca, Fès, Marrakech and the south) there is no glasses-off moment at all. Check your city.

Safe

  • Eclipse glasses or handheld viewers certified to ISO 12312-2
  • Welder’s glass #14 or darker
  • A pinhole projector (see below): you never look towards the Sun at all

Not safe

  • Ordinary sunglasses, even several pairs stacked together
  • Homemade filters, exposed camera film, smoked glass
  • Polarizing filters, phone screens
  • Cameras, binoculars or telescopes without a proper solar filter on the front
People looking up at the Sun through eclipse glasses.
Photo: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

Before you put them on

  • Look for ISO 12312-2 printed on the glasses.
  • Check the filter: if it is scratched, torn or has holes, throw the glasses away.
  • Keep them on while you look, and look away from the Sun before taking them off.
  • Never use them together with a camera, binoculars or a telescope: the concentrated light burns through the filter.
  • If you wear glasses, keep them on and put the eclipse glasses over them.
  • Stay with children and make sure they use them correctly.

No glasses? Make a pinhole projector

Sunlight passes through a small hole in a card and makes a small image of the Sun on a second card. The person stands with their back to the Sun. Sun Card with a pinhole Image on a second card
  1. Make a small, clean hole in a piece of card with a pin.
  2. Stand with your back to the Sun and hold the card over your shoulder.
  3. Hold a second card or a sheet of paper a little away. A small image of the Sun appears on it; move it further back for a bigger image.

The gaps between leaves of a tree, a colander or crossed fingers work the same way: look at their shadows on the ground.

Step-by-step video: How to make a box pinhole projector (NASA, also in Arabic).

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