HOUSTON — A "Ring of Fire" annular solar eclipse will be visible across the United States and other parts of the world on Saturday and it's important you know how to protect your eyes if you want to see it.
Regular sunglasses won't cut it for proper safety, according to NASA. Instead, you should use special eclipse glasses that are correctly labeled as ISO-12312-2 international standard compliant. NASA said these types of eyewear are thousands of times darker than normal sunglasses.
The American Astronomical Society Solar Eclipse Task Force keeps a list of manufacturers, distributors and sellers of eclipse glasses and filters that they consider legitimately compliant with the standard. Click here for that list.
If you didn't order them in time, the AAS recommends checking with Home Depot, Lowe's or Walmart to check if they have any in stock. (Some, but not all, locations sell ISO-approved eclipse glasses, according to the AAS.) Additionally, many libraries around the U.S. will be giving away free pairs of approved eclipse glasses; call your local branch or check this site for a map of participating libraries.
An important thing to note, if your glasses have the ISO logo on them, they may not be legitimate. AAS said ISO prohibits the use of the ISO logo on products. ISO also does not certify products itself.
Ahead of the 2017 total solar eclipse, AAS said counterfeit eclipse glasses flooded the market. That's why the organization stresses the importance of confirming your eye protection is legitimate.
Additionally, if the glasses are damaged in any way, including small scratches, NASA says you should throw them away.
NASA also says you should NOT look at the eclipse directly through a camera lens, telescope or binoculars, even while wearing glasses.
"The concentrated solar rays will burn through the filter and cause serious eye injury," NASA said.
If you don't have special eclipse glasses, you can use an indirect viewing method, like a pinhole projector which has a small opening that can project an image of the sun onto a surface. Here's guidance from NASA on safe solar eclipse viewing.
Best spots to watch the 'Ring of Fire' annular eclipse
If you're up for a road trip, Space.com lists New Braunfels as one of the Top 7 spots to see it in the southwestern United States. The website specifically mentions a cluster of superstores at I-35 and Highway 46.
Here are other locations across Texas and times in the path of the eclipse
- Midland: 10:18 a.m. through 1:21 p.m., with max eclipse beginning at 11:43 a.m.
- San Angelo: 10:20 a.m. through 1:25 p.m., with max eclipse beginning at 11:47 a.m.
- Kerrville: 10:22 a.m. through 1:30 p.m., with max eclipse beginning at 11:50 a.m.
- San Antonio: 10:23 a.m. through 1:32 p.m., with max eclipse beginning at 11:52 a.m.
- Corpus Christi: 10:26 a.m. through 1:38 p.m., with max eclipse beginning at 11:55 a.m.
If you don't want to go outside to see it, you can watch a live stream of the annular eclipse on KHOU.com or our YouTube page.