Can you watch the 2024 solar eclipse without protective glasses?
America's total solar eclipse happens on April 8, when the Moon will pass between the Earth and the Sun, covering the Sun in our sky.
Eclipse glasses needed to protect your eyes during total solar eclipse
With the April 8 total solar eclipse approaching American Paper Optics CEO John Jerit explains how solar eclipse glasses are made.
The excitement is building for space enthusiasts as a rare and breathtaking celestial event will occur across the U.S. this spring.
America's total solar eclipse happens on April 8, when the Moon will pass between the Earth and the Sun, covering the Sun in our sky.
However, the cosmic event is only visible along a narrow path on Earth. This time, that path crosses over North America, including parts of Mexico, into Texas and across 14 other U.S. states.
Best ways to view this year's total solar eclipse
We are eagerly anticipating America's total solar eclipse on April 8. During this phenomenon, the moon will come between the Earth and the Sun, resulting in the Sun being covered in our sky. However, it's important to note that the total eclipse will only be visible along a narrow path on Earth.
During the eclipse, the sky will have a darker hue, similar to early morning or late afternoon.
You should not watch the solar eclipse without special-purpose solar filters, like eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers. According to the American Astronomical Society, these glasses must meet the ISO 12312-2 international standard for direct Sun viewing.
HOW TO SAFELY WATCH A SOLAR ECLIPSE
FILE -- Pupils, wearing protective glasses, look at the partial solar eclipse in Schiedam on June 10, 2021.
(MARCO DE SWART/ANP/AFP / Getty Images)
Regular sunglasses are not safe for viewing any solar eclipse because sunglasses allow more sunlight than is safe for your eyes.
Most of the U.S. will see a partial solar eclipse, but only a 115-mile-wide path will see the full eclipse. Check this solar eclipse map to see if you are along the path of totality for the 2024 total solar eclipse.
On April 8, we will witness a total solar eclipse in America.
(FOX Weather)
"If you're able to see it with the glasses, that's the coolest thing," FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin said. "But when you're in that path of totality, I think feeling it is probably the most exciting part of the experience … the idea that you have a temperature drop that you can feel for a whole four minutes and the sky goes dark, it's pretty exciting."
WHO WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THE APRIL 2024 TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE?
FILE -- President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump look up at the partial solar eclipse from the balcony of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 21, 2017.
(NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP / Getty Images)
According to NASA, looking directly at the Sun without this specialized eye protection is unsafe. This includes before and after totality. It is important to only view the eclipse with the naked eye during the limited time that totality occurs in your location.
"Viewing any part of the bright Sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter secured over the front of the optics will instantly cause severe eye injury," the agency warns.
FOX Weather will be fanned out across the path of totality, so you can experience it live.
"Whether you're able to get into the path of totality yourself or not, it is going to be a wild and exciting ride," Merwin said.
WILL WEATHER COOPERATE FOR TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE IN APRIL 2024?
FILE -- Monks wearing solar filter glasses watch a "ring of fire" solar eclipse at the Gaden monastery in a Tibetan colony in Teginkoppa, 50km south of Dharwad in India's southern Karnataka state, on December 26, 2019.
(RAKESH NAGAR/AFP / Getty Images)
If you happen to be someone who likes to hold onto things, you can refuse your eclipse glasses from the 2017 solar eclipse. Reusing eclipse glasses only applies to ones that have been manufactured after 2015 and meet the ISO certification standard.