Eclipse glasses

[Martian]

Hi all. I may be a little late to the party but I just found out that eclipse glasses do not age well and the ones from 2017 will nit be fully protective. EarthSky.org supplied the last ones but they are sold out. Found that American Paper Optics has a good reputation and has a kit with glasses and phone lenses which is readily available.

 

[Ray-IN]

Can you provide a link to that information about not aging well? That sounds like marketing hype to me. Now if the sourse is talking about the cardboard frames not ageing well, they are right.. Mine are stored in a file cabinet and the cardboard looks like new.
If it turns out I need to buy new ones, WalMart has a display near the checkouts.
American Paper Optics has a minimum quantity of 25, with two specials of a dozen for $48+tax.

 

[edjunior]

I have a viewing lens (a 2 X 4 inch lens) that I got in Hawaii back in 1994 to view an eclipse there. It has been stored in a small envelope made for it, and it still works great. I actually used it to take pictures of the last eclipse. Just held the lens to the end of my zoom lens. It worked really well, but did get tiring after a while.

 

[BinaryStar]

As long as the 2017 glasses have the ISO 12312-2 certification printed on them and they don't have holes in them or scratches or tears they are still good.

 

[Isaac-1]

That assumes they really are ISO certified, and it was not just something they printed on the glasses at a factory in China with no understanding or care about what it meant. (This was a BIG issue with many solar eclipse glasses sold in 2017)

 

[Martian]

Per NBC news the coating degrades over a three year time frame. They are made as disposable so will not last like a pair of welding glasses. ISO certification only assures that every one will be the same as the next. ISO is not involved in the quality of a product or its usefulness, it is a measure of consistency.

The certification to look for is The American Astronomical Society (AAS) approval. That certification will protect your eyes.

 

[Chef Duane]

I bought some eclipse glasses the other other day as I am in the Path of Totality. I also bought a doohickey that goes over the lens of your smartphone for taking a vid of the eclipse. Should be pretty cool.

 

[camperAL]

Don't forget this spot for eclipse glasses as well. I'd say your getting pretty close to the deadline for having your glasses.

The Great 2024 Eclipse – Your Complete Guide - Astronomical League

In celebration of the 2024 eclipse, Sky & Telescope just released a 64-page special edition of our magazine titled The Great 2024 Eclipse – Your Complete Guide to the April 8th Solar Eclipse, (https://shopatsky.com/products/2024-eclipse-guide) plus it includes 2 free pair of eclipse glasses...

www.astroleague.org

Astronomical League has a lot of amateur astronomers that use this equipment.

 

[Kirk]

Per NBC news the coating degrades over a three year time frame.

Amazon has a lot of inexpensive choices.

 

[LarsMac]

On the NASA website regarding safely viewing the 2017 total solar eclipse, NASA has this to say:


"Note: If your eclipse glasses or viewers are compliant with the ISO 12312-2 safety standard, you may look at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed Sun through them for as long as you wish. Furthermore, if the filters aren't scratched, punctured, or torn, you may reuse them indefinitely. Some glasses/viewers are printed with warnings stating that you shouldn't look through them for more than 3 minutes at a time and that you should discard them if they are more than 3 years old. Such warnings are outdated and do not apply to eclipse viewers compliant with the ISO 12312-2 standard adopted in 2015. To make sure you get (or got) your eclipse glasses/viewers from a supplier of ISO-compliant products, see the American Astronomical Society (AAS) Reputable Vendors of Solar Filters & Viewers page."
- end quote

So, If those glasses were sitting out in the open all these years, I would expect some degradation. If they have been closed up in a dark storage place, they may be ok. Inspect the lens for damage before using them.

Though I am hesitant to actually look directly at the sun for very long regardless of what kind of eyewear I had.

I plan to use the good old, tried and true method of putting a pin hole in a piece of cardboard, and projecting it onto a piece of paper.
We've watched a lot of eclipse events ( Mostly partial) over the years with that method.