Did you know there's a solar eclipse this Friday morning between 8.45 – 9am? And that most of northern Europe will fade into near darkness for several minutes, blocking out about 90 per cent of sunlight. Pretty cool, no? It's such a rare occasion – it's been 15 years to be exact – it's a phenomenon you just cannot miss with the kids just before school begins, it's also a pretty cool way to teach them about astronomy. But looking at the sun has its dangers, so we gathered some top tips from ophthalmologist Dr Patricia Quinlan on what NOT to do to avoid damaging little eyes.
The Irish College of Ophthalmologists advises that extreme caution must be exercised where children are concerned. The potential damage is actually more severe because a child's natural lens is so clear it lets more ultraviolet (UV) rays reach the back of the eye than an adults eye.
Follow these guidelines and you're good to go and enjoy this incredible experience:
Don’t
- Look directly at the sun with the naked eye or even with sunglasses on – they don’t offer sufficient protection.
- Watch it directly through a telescope, binoculars, camera or camera-phone. Even if you are just lining up the projection, this still puts you at risk.
- Don’t attempt a ‘Selfie’ on your camera-phone – glancing at the sun, even briefly can lead to damage of the retina.
- Don’t view through smoked glass, stacked sunglasses, polarised shades or photographic filters.
Do enjoy the eclipse by:
- Looking at sun indirectly using the old-fashioned, home-made pinhole projection method. This involves putting a hole in a piece of cardboard, and holding the cardboard up – with your back to the sun – so that an image of the sun is projected onto another piece of paper or card. This works well using a cardboard box and will allow you to see the progress of the eclipse without damaging your eyes.
- Going to one of the many viewing events being run by astronomy clubs and other organisations around the country to watch the eclipse where experienced astronomers will be on hand with specially adapted telescopes for viewing the eclipse safely.
- Viewing live streams available online to watch the event.
Check out www.eyedoctors.ie for more. 
