How to Tell If Your Eclipse Glasses
or Handheld Solar Viewers Are Safe
According to a recent press release, NASA recommends that people who plan to view the eclipse should check the safety authenticity of viewing glasses to ensure they meet basic proper safety viewing standards. The Astronomical Society of America (AAS) also has an excellent web page dedicated to this subject.
Below are some basic criteria that glasses or viewers should meet:
Have certification information with a designated ISO 12312-2 international standard
Have the manufacturer’s name and address printed somewhere on the product
Not be used if they are older than three years, or have scratched or wrinkled lense
Not use homemade filters
Ordinary sunglasses -- even very dark ones -- should not be used as a replacement for eclipse viewing glasses or handheld solar viewers
As part of the NASA@ My Library project, the glasses distributed via the Moore Foundation grant meet and exceed NASA's criteria and are completely safe. If your library has purchased additonal eclipse glasses outside of this grant and not through NASA approved manufarcturers such as American Paper Optics, Rainbow Symphony or Thousand Oaks Optical, you should review the information above carefully for their authenticity.
As many of you may know, STAR_Net is no longer distributing eclipse glasses. So if your library has been unable to get access to them, pinhole projectors are an easy and safe way to view a solar eclipse – and they are also a lot of fun to make! They can be constructed using common, found materials, and patrons can experiment with the size of the pinhole to change the projection.
The STAR_Net team is proud to partner with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Universe of Learning program to offer an innovative exhibit program to public libraries and their partners, starting in the summer of 2018.
Please help us make the exhibit a perfect fit for your library by completing this survey for the project team. Your responses are integral to creating a quality program for libraries and their communities. The survey will be open through August 15th.
Getting a Feel for Eclipses explains the details surrounding the August 2017 total solar eclipse. To commemorate this event NASA has created a tactile guide. Tactile graphics provide an illustration of the interaction and alignment of the Sun with the Moon and the Earth. Associated activities will clarify the nature of eclipses. Watch Video!
Credit: STAR_Net Team Millie is blind but she likes the Sun and thinks that her eclipse glasses make her look cool.
To enter, simply LIKE our Facebook page and then post a photo (including your library name and the hashtag #EclipseAtMyLibrary) to our Wall that shows your library staff, patrons or patron's dog, cat or whatever using their eclipse glasses at your library! Just make it fun! Remember, if Millie our Eclipse Dog can do it, you can too!!
Winners will be chosen randomly and contacted to provide their shipping info so they can receive the guide before Eclipse Day.
Get 20% off the Purchase of When the Sun Goes Dark by Andrew Fraknoi and Dennis Schatz
With all the excitement building about the August 21 eclipse of the Sun, the non-profit National Science Teachers Association is offering the participating libraries in the STAR_Net network and eclipse project a 20% discount on purchases of the widely-praised eclipse book for children, When The Sun Goes Dark.
In 36 full-color pages, When the Sun Goes Dark is the story of Diana and Sammy, two curious children, whose grandparents are “eclipse chasers.” The kids and their grandparents re-create eclipses and the motions of the Moon in their living room using a lamp, tennis and ping-pong balls, and Hula Hoops. Later, in the backyard and around the house, the family explores safe ways to view both partial and total eclipses of the Sun.
The book is about eclipses (of the Sun and the Moon) in general, so it will have a shelf-life long after the August 21 eclipse is history. The book is by Andrew Fraknoi and Dennis Schatz, the same two astronomers who wrote the free eclipse booklet for libraries that is being distributed with the eclipse glasses by STAR_Net.
Libraries that have purchased copies of the book report that it is hard to keep on the shelves.
To obtain the discount, use the Promo Code: DARK20. Go to the webpage for When the Sun Goes Darkand enter the code when you check out.
