Science & history · Looking at the Sun
Never look at the Sun; project it
Looking at the Sun, even briefly, can injure your eyes. Projecting its image is safe and works on any sunny day.
The rules
NASA: it is not safe to look directly at the Sun without specialised eye protection that meets the ISO 12312-2 standard. Ordinary sunglasses, however dark, are not safe. Never look through a camera, binoculars or a telescope at the Sun, even while wearing eclipse glasses: the concentrated light will burn through.
A pinhole
A pinhole projector, a small hole punched in a card, throws an image of the Sun onto a surface behind it. The only time the unprotected eye is safe is during the brief totality of a total solar eclipse.
Sources
- NASA Eclipse Viewing Safety (opens in a new tab) for ISO 12312-2 viewers; sunglasses unsafe; no optics without front filters; pinhole projection; totality only · checked 2 October 2026