Is it safe to look at partial eclipses

Question

there's going to be a partial eclipse here in london in about 8 hours and im wondering is it safe to look at it directl.

its like 12.40pm right now i cant go anywhere

Answer 1

Absolutely not! Use a telescope with a sun filter ... even a bucket of water with the sun's reflection on the surface would be safer.

Answer 2

A partial solar eclipse?

No.  Not even through sunglasses.  

Answer 3

i'm not entirely clear on this... but i've l been told to wear sunglasses.

i'm not kidding.

apparently you can go blind.  

Answer 4

When I was in second grade, they told us to make a pin hole in a piece of paper and look at an eclipse that way.  Then we were all standing in the playground staring through pin holes in pieces of paper, and the sun went behind a cloud just as the eclipse occurred..  Anyway, I don't know if it was really safe or not but that's what they told us to do.  I'd imagine there would be lawsuits to high heaven if one of us had lost a retina.

You could also go to a hardware store and buy a welding mask, or just a filter.  One or two should probably be enough protection.

Answer 5

the idea is this, the sun puts out a lot of harmful rays to your eyes.  they don't effect you because the sun is too bright to look at so you naturally close your eyes when you look at it.  

during a solar eclipse, that bright light that normally keeps you from looking at the sun (and letting in all that bad stuff into your eyes) isn't there anymore, so people blindly (all puns intended) look at an eclipse not realizing they are frying their retina's and turning their corneas into a white surface instead of clear like when you cook the white part of an egg.  

so in answer to your question, don't look into the sun.  ever.  just because the moon has blocked 'some' of the light, those pesky microwaves and other non-visible light are still getting through and your natural protection of turning your eyes away is not functinoal during an eclipse.