Sunspotter telescope

Did you know that a total solar eclipse is coming up on April 8, 2024?

This one is primarily visible from North America; you can find more information about where to see it (and if it’ll be visible from your location) over here on TimeAndDate.com.

I was planning to travel to “totality” myself, but those plans fell through because I couldn’t get the time off work. Nevertheless, I’ll be helping out at a viewing event up north of Joshua Tree National Park!

In this post, I’ll take you through what you’ll see during a total solar eclipse–and, at each phase, I’ll let you know exactly how to safely view the sun!

(Later this week, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming on active galaxies.)

Important: Always use solar glasses and solar filters that conform to the safety standard ISO 12312-2. Be careful! There are bad actors on the market that print this standard on unsafe equipment. Use this list of trustworthy suppliers from the American Astronomical Society.

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Have you ever looked at the sun, and seen something like this?

Now, before you decide to look at it right now and see what you see, it’s my responsibility as an amateur astronomer to remind you of the safety risks. Focusing your eyes on the sun is dangerous—there’s a reason our eyes automatically flinch away.

How dangerous, you ask? Dangerous enough to burn and even scar your retinas, permanently damaging or even destroying your vision.

Yes, I’m serious.

Now, all this is not to turn you off solar observing entirely. There are safe—and cheap—ways to look at the sun, and see its spots.

But what exactly are sunspots?

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