We’ll start with a bit about eclipses.
A solar eclipse shows up when the moon moves between the Earth and the Sun.
Most eclipses are only partial eclipses, meaning that the moon never completely obscures the sun.
Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek |guteksk7/Wise ant/Shutterstock
The few minutes when the sun is completely hidden from view is called totality.
NASA says that it issafe to view totality without wearing eye protection.
Just be sure that you don’t start looking too early or keep watching too late.
Nick Lewis / How-to Geek
First and foremost is safety.
Take a careful look at the photo below.
If you look at the bottom-right side of the sun, you might see sunspot 3615.
Just be sure that you’re not premature, and that you don’t keep looking for too long.
Totality only lasts a few minutes.
Regular telephoto adapters have much larger lenses than your smartphone camera, and gathermuchmore light.
Do not use an add-on telephoto lens attached to your phone to attempt to photograph the eclipse.
However, they’re specialty items and cost quite a bit.
We don’t recommend it.
Just be sure to keep an eye on it.
We also highly recommend that you go into your camera app’s controls and set the focus to infinity.
That will prevent autofocus from interfering with your perfect shot.
Examine the lenses for any tears, holes, scrapes, or scratches.
If you see any, don’t use them.
Turn on your phone’s flashlight, put the glasses on, and hold it up to your face.
Ideally, you should only be able to dimly see the light.
You should not be able to see the body of the phone or anything in the room.
Other bright lights may also be faintly visible.
If your glasses pass the first test, take them outside on a sunny day and look around.
You shouldn’t be able to see anything besides bright reflections from the sun itself.
If your filter or glasses pass both tests, they’re likely good enough to protect your phone.
However, always err on the side of caution if you have any doubts.
