What to know when you're searching for eclipse glasses
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.