Solar Eclipse on Saturday: Protect Your Eyes and Your Phone
This Saturday's annular solar eclipse is sure to captivate many, but experts are cautioning against using cell phone cameras to capture the event. The intense sunlight during the eclipse can damage your device and, more importantly, your eyes.
Doug Duncan, a University of Colorado at Boulder astronomer, emphasized the risks of pointing a camera or phone directly at the Sun. "The lens will concentrate the sunlight, potentially ruining your camera, phone, or even your eye," Duncan explained. He added that not only would the concentrated heat damage the phone camera, but the resulting image would also be of poor quality.
NASA has also issued warnings about the dangers of viewing the Sun directly through camera lenses, binoculars, or telescopes without specialized solar filters. Such actions can lead to severe eye injuries. Even when wearing eclipse glasses or using a handheld solar viewer, one should never look at the Sun through any optical device, as the concentrated rays can penetrate the filters and harm the eyes.
For those keen on capturing the event with their phones, Duncan suggests using a solar filter for the phone camera or placing solar-viewing glasses in front of the camera lens. "The filter that protects the phone is the same as the glasses that protect you," he noted.
NASA advises using eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer to watch the partial eclipse phases. Direct viewing without protection is only safe during the brief moment of totality when the Moon fully covers the Sun. As soon as the Sun starts to reappear, viewers should immediately use protective measures again.
The annular solar eclipse will be visible in the U.S., starting in Oregon at 9:13 a.m. PT and concluding in Texas around 12:03 p.m. CT. In Texas, the totality phase is expected to begin at 1:40 p.m. CT, reaching its peak at 1:42 p.m. CT, and ending at 1:44 p.m. CT.
