An optician has shared an easy smartphone hack to help safely watch the solar eclipse, but has issued a warning about protecting your phone's camera.
Many Scots will be looking to the skies tonight (August 12) as a rare solar eclipse is set to begin at around 6pm. With some parts of Scotland expected to see 93 per cent of the sun covered by the moon, observers won't want to miss out.
However, many people have been left frustrated by the solar event as they have been unable to obtain genuine eclipse glasses which would allow them to directly watch the sun safely.
Optician's top tips
In order to combat this and make sure no one misses out on the once in a lifetime astronomical event, an optician has shared an easy hack to watch the solar eclipse without damaging your eyes. All you need is your smartphone.
Taking to Instagram, Dr Pretty Basra of Edwards and Walker Opticians has shared her dos and don'ts ahead of this evening's solar eclipse. In order to avoid causing severe damage to your eyes, it is crucial to follow these rules.
Uploading the clip yesterday (August 11), Dr Basra said: "So it's the solar eclipse between six and eight o'clock and these are the top tips on what you should do and what you shouldn't be doing tomorrow night.
"So first of all, please don't look directly at the solar eclipse because it can unfortunately burn the back of the eye and cause permanent damage. If you do want to view the solar eclipse, the easiest way to do it is to put your phone into selfie mode, have the sun behind you and you can view it on your phone."
She continued: "You can get solar eclipse sunglasses, they have to be CE marked and approved, that you can view the solar eclipse with, but honestly the safest way to do it is selfie mode on your camera and just view it, video it, take pictures of it."
Warning for smartphone users
However, she does issue a warning in the caption of the post in order to protect your phone's camera during the eclipse.
She wrote: "When using your phone in selfie mode do not take prolonged footage, short quick clips only. As the sensor can be affected."
The idea behind using selfie mode to capture the solar eclipse is exactly that. You should only take a quick video or picture of the sun, like you would a quick selfie, before taking your phone out of direct view in order to avoid damaging the camera.
Nasa previously issued a warning on social media about filming a solar eclipse. It states that if you want to take a long video of the event, you will need to add a filter to your smartphone to protect the device.
The space agency said: "The phone sensor could be damaged just like any other image sensor if it’s pointed directly at the Sun."
On its website, it added: "Looking directly at the Sun is dangerous to your eyes and your camera. To take images when the Sun is partially eclipsed, you’ll need to use a special solar filter to protect your camera, just as you’ll need a pair of solar viewing glasses (also called eclipse glasses) to protect your eyes."
Alternative viewing methods
Other methods for watching the solar eclipse include creating a pinhole projector or watching the moon travel across the Sun by viewing the shadow through a colander directed towards the ground.
For Scotland, the maximum eclipse is expected to take place just after 7pm, with many areas expected to witness over 90 per cent coverage.
