SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Destiny USA is one of 40 locations in Western and Central New York that are giving people a way to watch a once in a lifetime event. In order to look at the sun during a solar eclipse, you must wear a special type of glasses called “viewers.” New York State’s Welcome Center in Destiny Mall is giving away the viewers for free.
“This thing does two things,” said Sam Sampere, a physics professor at Syracuse University. “One is it cuts down the amount of light coming through here by about 100,000. The other thing it does is it blocks out all the ultraviolet light,”
If ultraviolet light hits your retina, it has the ability to imprint a permanent image into the eye. As a result people staring directly into that light can become partially blind. So it is extremely important to wear the correct type of protection.
During the last total solar eclipse, in 2017, over 150,000 fake glasses were manufactured and distributed. So how do you make sure the glasses that you have this year are the right ones?
“You should only use glasses that have this ISO label from a trusted vendor,” Sampere said. “So one of my trusted vendors is this company called Rainbow Symphony.”
Sampere added that the viewers are more powerful than they may seem.
“This is like wearing a thousand pair of sunglasses, so you might be tempted to say, well I’ve got my sunglasses on,” said Sampere. “This is a thousand pairs of sunglasses. Okay. A thousand pair of sunglasses. So don’t chance it. get these things. They are readily available.”
For more information on where to get free glasses visit this link.
