Mumbai, August 20:  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) informed that all of the North America will witness a solar eclipse on August 21, 2017, on Monday. During the eclipse, the moon will completely cover the sun and the sun’s tenuous atmosphere – the corona. The sun will be covered by the moon completely for as long as two minutes and 40 seconds.
NASA has issued safety measures to people while viewing the total solar eclipse that will be seen on Monday. NASA mentioned on its website that it is safe to look at the eclipse only through special-purpose solar filters or the eclipse glasses. It informs that even the homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses aren’t safe even if they are dark as they transmit thousands of times too much sunlight.
Here are the instructions issued by NASA:
1. It is necessary to inspect the solar filter before use. If it is scratched or damaged, it should not be used.
2. If children are also viewing the eclipse, it is necessary to supervise them.
3. Before looking up at the bright sun, one must stand still and cover the eyes with eclipse glasses or solar viewer. Once the person looks at the sun, he should turn away and remove the filter. One must not take off the filter while looking at the sun.
4. It is unsafe to look at the eclipse using an unfiltered camera, telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device.
5. NASA advises not to look at the sun through a camera, telescope, binoculars or any optical device while using eclipse glasses or hand-held solar viewer as it is unsafe and will damage the filter and enter the eyes that will cause serious injury.
6. It is necessary to seek an expert advice from an astronomer before using a solar filter with a camera, a telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device.
7. If people are viewing the eclipse within the path of totality, it is important to remove the solar filter only when the moon completely covers the sun’s bright face and it suddenly gets quite dark. The moment bright sun begins to reappear, one must replace solar viewer to look at the remaining partial phases of the eclipse.
8. If one doesn’t fall in the path of totality for viewing the eclipse, it is still necessary to use a solar filter to view the sun directly.
9. If one wears normal glasses, the person should watch the eclipse by putting a solar filter on it.
One can read the entire safety advisory issued by NASA on the website https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety. On the same website, NASA will provide a guide to this amazing event. On this website, people can find activities, events, broadcasts, and resources from NASA