In a week's time, on Wednesday August 12, there is going to be a solar eclipse - which will be visible for throughout Europe, the UK, and in parts of North America.
How much of the sun will be obscured by the moon will depend on exactly where you are – and if you are in the right part of Spain, Greenland or Iceland you will see a total solar eclipse. In other places marked out on the map below you can still see a partial solar eclipse – and check out precise timings, and how total the eclipse is, on this website.
But whether total or partial, you will need special glasses to look at the sun. These have special film that greatly reduce the brightness of the sun to a level so you can observe it safely - think of them like a neutral density filter on steroids!
Fortunately, these glasses don't need to be expensive - the simplest have cardboard frames to keep the cost down. But you do need to make sure you get them in advance – as the chances are your corner shop won't stock them. And we during the Great American Eclipse in 2024 we saw some online stores selling up to the event.
The key thing to check, however, is that the glasses that you buy conform to the ISO 12312-2 standard- this ensures that they are fit for purpose. It goes without saying that looking directly at the sun without protection can be extremely dangerous and can cause blindness.
Below you can see some of the glasses that are still in stock, and which you can buy to arrive in time for the eclipse…
If you want to photograph the eclipse, or view it through a telescope you MUST use a special solar filter – you can see our full guide to choosing and buying one of these. For a closer view of the eclipse, it is possible to buy special solar eclipse binoculars.
