Warby Parker offering free solar eclipse-viewing glasses

Total Solar Eclipse BusinessesFILE - Viewers use special glasses to watch from San Antonio, as the moon moves in front of the sun during an annular solar eclipse, or ring of fire, Oct. 14, 2023. The total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024 may be weeks away but businesses are ready for the celestial event with oodles of special eclipse glasses for sale, along with T-shirts and other souvenirs. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File) ORG XMIT: NYPM508 — Viewers of the upcoming solar eclipse are urged to protect their eyes by wearing special eclipse-viewing glasses.

Warby Parker is celebrating next week’s solar eclipse by giving out safe viewing glasses starting Monday.

The free glasses will be available at all Warby Parker stores while supplies last until the day of the astronomical event April 8, according to the company’s website.

Sky watchers will need the special glasses if they want to witness the event safely with their own eyes. Approved eye wear contains filters that are many times darker than sunglasses and block nearly all light.

Warby Parker said the free glasses are certified to that standard, known as ISO-12312-2. The company has several locations in Chicago. The stores will be able to provide up to two pairs per family.

Once the stores run out of glasses visitors will be provided with a pinhole projector, which is another way to safely experience the eclipse, the company said.

The American Astronomical Society has a list of approved providers that sell eclipse watching glasses that are tested to meet safety standards. The Adler Planetarium will also hand out safe viewing glasses the morning of the eclipse.

Total Solar EclipseThis image from the NASA Eclipse Explorer website shows the path of the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse over North America. An estimated 44 million people live inside the 110-mile-wide (180-kilometer-wide) path of totality stretching from Mazatlán, Mexico to Newfoundland. (NASA via AP) ORG XMIT: NY712 — This image from the NASA Eclipse Explorer website shows the path of the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse over North America. An estimated 44 million people live inside the 110-mile-wide path of totality stretching from Mazatlán, Mexico, to Newfoundland.

The eclipse will start around 12:50 p.m. on April 8 in the Chicago area. At its peak, which will only last for a few minutes, the moon will appear to cover about 94% of the sun.

The only circumstance where it is safe to take a brief peek at the eclipse without proper protection is within the narrow path of totality as the moon obscures 100% of the sun, revealing the sun’s corona.

Those who decide to forgo eye protection risk burning their retinas, which can lead to permanent impaired vision.

Downstate Carbondale was under the path of totality in 2017 and will be again this year. Several events are planned there ahead of the event.

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