Type the phrase “solar eclipse glasses” into any search engine or online store, and you will see hundreds of results. In advance of the total solar eclipse across North America on April 8, the market for solar eclipse glasses—which only cost about $3 each (but can sometimes be found for free)–is booming.
Amid fears of impending shortages, concerns remain among consumers about whether safe solar eclipse glasses can be reliably bought online.
Industry Standards
The worry is rooted in the period just before the last total solar eclipse to occur across the U.S. on August 21, 2017, when Amazon issued refunds to customers who purchased solar eclipse glasses that may not have complied with industry standards. That’s the ISO 12312-2 international safety standard in this case. It was a response to suppliers being unable to confirm that the products they were reselling came from an approved manufacturer.
In an attempt to prevent a repeat of that situation—and knowing that April 8’s total solar eclipse was coming to North America less than seven years later—Dr. Rick Fienberg at the American Astronomical Society and colleagues physically checked 43 different solar eclipse glasses and published a paper. One result, some years later, is Fienberg’s constantly updated list of the AAS Suppliers of Safe Solar Filters & Viewers, which have all been vetted as either manufacturing or selling ISO-compliant safe eclipse glasses and/or handheld viewers.
How To Buy Safe Eclipse Glasses
The AAS list is what to use whenever you buy eclipse glasses online. “The easiest way to buy safe solar eclipse glasses is to follow one of the links from our list,” said Fienberg. Each of the vetted companies has a clickthrough link on the page. “If you search online, including on Amazon, look at the source—if it’s on our list, you’re good to go,” said Fienberg. A quick search on Amazon reveals several brands, almost all of which also appear on the AAS list, which suggests that it’s working well.
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“The customer has to do some work because type in ‘eclipse viewers’ into Amazon and a lot is going to come up,” said Pat Steele, owner of Kingman, Arizona-based Thousand Oaks Optical, which manufactures the all-important silver-black polymer film used by the makers of cardboard solar eclipse glasses in the U.S. “People need to make sure they’re on the approved vendor list.”
Amazon’s Eclipse Glasses
The AAS website states: “We do not recommend searching for eclipse glasses on Amazon, eBay, Temu, or any other online marketplace and buying from whichever vendor offers the lowest price.”
Amazon confirmed to me in an email that since 2017 it has implemented new controls to ensure compliance and that solar eclipse glasses in the Amazon store must be ISO 12312-2 compliant and sourced from the recommended list of companies and organizations designated by the AAS. If a noncompliant product goes undetected by its automated checks, the company addresses the issue immediately and it is removed, confirmed Amazon.
Steele’s advice is to use a reputable supplier on the AAS list and buy directly from them. “Amazon is in the business of selling as much as it can and I know it tries to do some policing, but it’s hard to avoid the fakes and the companies that may not have the reputation and experience,” he said.
Worldwide Suppliers
The AAS list is designed to appeal to North American buyers, with sections for authorized dealers of products made in North America or Germany (58 at last count) and large retail chains in North America, but it also has a section dedicated to solar filters for telescopes, cameras and binoculars, and companies selling ISO-compliant products—including eclipse glasses—manufactured from China.
It’s vital to ensure that the glasses you purchase are from reputable sources on the AAS list to “avoid potential harm and legal liabilities,” said Jo Trizila, founder and CEO of TrizCom PR & Pitch PR, who runs Total Eclipse DFW. “Just because they say they are safe doesn’t mean they are.”
For the latest on all aspects of April 8’s total solar eclipse in North America, check my main feedfor new articles each day.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
