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People can't look at Monday's solar eclipse without solar eclipse glasses.

This weekend, sun and moon lovers may look all over the Capital Region for the safety-tested, black-filmshades.

But they will have trouble finding them.

Stores have exhausted their supplies. There were none at Toys "R" Us in Clifton Park, none at Wal-Mart in Amsterdam, none at Lowe's in Glenville.

Lowe's in Niskayuna -- no. Walmart in Rotterdam -- no. Local hardware stores -- no.

"We are all sold out," said one store representative on Friday. "Every store around is sold out."

Places all over the country have sold out. And online sales may now be tricky;even rush orders may not arrive by early Monday afternoon, when the "Great American Eclipse" will begin.

The rare event will darken skies from Oregon to South Carolina along a 70-mile stretch. People in the "path of totality" will see the moon completely block the sun and cast a shadow on the surface of the Earth.

In the Capital Region, astronomy fans will see a partial eclipse -- 66 percent of the sun will be covered by the moon. The show will start at 1:22 p.m. and end at 3:56 p.m. The best time to check out the cosmic conference will be about 2:45 p.m.

Libraries around the U.S. have the shades, whichresemble old-fashioned, 3-D movie glasses. According to the American Astronomical Society, 6,900 libraries have been given solar eye wear through a program supported by NASA, Google and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

At the Schenectady County Public Library's eclipse gathering, which begins at noon and runs until 4 p.m., glasses will be available outside the building. People who attend the library party won't even have to examine the heavens to see the lunar-solar team-up; a live NASA stream of the celestial event will be held in the McChesney Room.

The glassessold out at miSci -- Schenectady's Museum of Innovation and Science. Valerie Rapson, outreach astronomer at the Dudley Observatory at miSci, said the museum's gift store had nearly 4,000 pairs in stock.

People must have the protection if they'regoing to watch the skies. Sunglasses with tough-sounding names such as "Solar Shields" are not going to work. They will not be safe.

The American Optometric Association added that smoked glass, unfiltered telescopes or magnifiersand polarizing filters will also be unsafe for eclipse viewing.

The American Academy of Opthalmology has also issued a warning:"Looking directly at the sun, even while it's partially eclipsed, can permanently damage vision or blind you."

According to Rapson, "The special glasses block 99.99 percent of the light, which is way more than a regular pair of sunglasses. That's the main thing to stress. Sunglasses are not enough. They really have to have those safety glasses."

The eclipse glasses must come from reputable vendors -- theAmerican Astronomical Society has composed a page of legitimate manufacturers and authorized dealers of eclipse glasses and handheld solar viewers, all verified to be compliancewith the ISO 12312-2 international safety standard.

Angela Strong, assistant library director for operations at the Schenectady County Public Library, is expecting a large crowd for the eclipse party. She said glasses will be distributed outside the building, with a limit of four pairs per family.

"We're going to encourage people to share the glasses," Strong said. "It's recommended people limit their viewing to three minutes at a time."

People without glasses at miSci will be able to "watch" the show with "sun spotters," devices that will project images of the sun on white paper. Telescopes equipped with safe solar filters will also be on the grounds.

Reach Gazette reporter Jeff Wilkin at 395-3124 at at wilkin@dailygazette.com or @jeffwilkin1 on Twitter.

Originally posted here:
Eclipse safety glasses hard to find in Capital Region - The Daily Gazette

This entry was posted on August 19, 2017 at 7:41 am and is filed under Opthalmology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |