Solar eclipse 2024: When should I put on my eclipse glasses?

We know we’re not supposed to look directly at the sun, especially during the eclipse, but when should you don your eclipse glasses and how?

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First the how.

They should be worn with the aluminized side toward the sun, according to Forbes. You shouldn’t look up at the sun and put them on. Instead, you should look toward the ground, put the glasses on and then look up.

You shouldn’t stare at the eclipse.

Forbes said the glasses are for checking on the progress, not keeping a constant look at the moon’s movement.

You can wear them over your regular glasses if you have to wear corrective lenses. Again do so before you look at the sun.

When can you take them off?

You should have the glasses on when looking at the beads and the “diamond ring.” Experts said you can remove them if you are in the swath of the country where there will be a total eclipse.

“Totality is the only time when one can look at the eclipsed sun without a protective filter, and in fact, you have to look without a protective filter; otherwise, you will see nothing,” Dr. Ralph Chou, told Forbes via email. Chou is an expert in eclipse eye safety.

For example in Muncie, Indiana, viewers will be able to remove them for about 3 minutes and 40 seconds, pr about 3:08 p.m. to 3:11 p.m. local time, according to Ball State University.

If you’re in areas that won’t experience totality, you should wear them the entire time while looking at the sun during the phases of the eclipse, according to Eclipse2024.org.

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