It is never safe to look directly at the Sun with your naked eye. The ONLY exception to this rule is during the brief time when the Moon completely blocks the Sun (totality) during a total solar eclipse. Even the smallest sliver of the Sun emits enough harmful rays (both visible and ultraviolet light) to seriously damage your eyes and/or cause blindness. Viewing the Sun through a camera, telescope, or binoculars without the proper solar filters is also extremely dangerous even if you are wearing solar eclipse glasses.

Thanks to generous funding from Erie County, complimentary eclipse glasses are available at the Buffalo Museum of Science (limit two per person) until 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 7.

Select Buffalo & Erie County libraries may also still have glasses available, but call for availability. For locations and contact information, visit https://www.buffalolib.org/locations-and-hours.

If you ordered your own glasses, be sure they’re from a reputable source like RainbowSymphony.com, and that they are certified for solar viewing. Certified glasses should indicate that they comply with ISO 12312-2, the international safety standard for filters for direct viewing of the Sun.

First, inspect your solar glasses for any tears, scratches, or other damage. Discard glasses if any damage is discovered. Next check the glasses for any indication that they comply with ISO 12312-2 (the international safety standard for filters for direct viewing of the Sun). This is usually written on the inside of the glasses. The easiest way to ensure that your solar viewing glasses will keep you safe is to obtain your glasses from a reputable vendor.

For more information on viewing safety, visit: How to Tell If Your Eclipse Glasses or Handheld Solar Viewers Are Safe | Solar Eclipse Across America (aas.org)

If you don’t have solar eclipse glasses, indirect viewing methods, those methods that do not involve looking directly at the sun, are a safe and easy way for everyone (especially small children!) to view the eclipse. The easiest indirect method for viewing the partially eclipsed Sun is using a pinhole projector, which has a small opening (e.g. a hole punched into a piece of cardboard) and projects an image of the partial eclipse onto a nearby surface. In fact, you can use anything with holes for pinhole projection, even a colander! With the Sun at your back, you can then safely view the projected image. Please remember, do NOT look at the Sun through the pinhole. This method is only safe for indirect viewing of the partial phases of the eclipse.

Here are the more exact times the eclipse will be viewable in Buffalo. Totality only lasts for a few minutes!

• Partial begins: 2:04 pm EDT
• Totality begins: 3:18 pm EDT
• Maximum: 3:20 pm EDT
• Totality ends: 3:22 pm EDT
• Partial ends: 4:32 pm EDT

On the days leading up to the total solar eclipse, note the location of the Sun at your preferred viewing location around 3:18 p.m. (the approximate time of totality in Western New York). Remember, never look directly at the Sun without proper eye protection. When selecting a viewing location, choose a viewing spot that has a clear view of the southwest sky for the duration of the eclipse. During the eclipse, the Sun will be at an approximately 45-degree angle.

If it’s cloudy on April 8, 2024 you may not see the Sun’s corona, but you will still be able to experience some of the effects of the total solar eclipse including nighttime-like conditions, a noticeable drop in temperature, and wildlife in the area behaving differently.

We will not be holding a viewing party at the Museum. The Museum and Tifft Nature Preserve will be closed on April 8, 2024, to allow our team members to experience the eclipse with friends and family.

Erie County officials anticipate that hundreds of thousands of tourists will travel to the WNY region for the eclipse, which for cities along the path of totality for previous eclipses has led to difficult traffic and travel challenges.

The eclipse can be enjoyed from anywhere in the Buffalo region that has a clear view of the sky. We encourage WNY residents to stay at, or close, to home or at a location where they’re comfortable staying for a while before, during, and after the eclipse. No one should miss this once-in-a-generation event!

In the months and days leading up to the eclipse, the Museum will offer educational programming to help prepare area residents for the eclipse. Thanks to generous funding from Erie County, glasses are available while supplies last at Buffalo & Erie County Public Library branches. Call for availability prior to visiting.

Due to the hundreds of thousands of anticipated eclipse tourists coming to the region, and the traffic challenges it will likely cause, we encourage everyone to enjoy the eclipse at or near their home or at a location where they can stay for a while before, during, and after the eclipse.

The Museum will be closed on April 8, 2024, but if you wish to attend a viewing event hosted elsewhere, information can be found at Visit Buffalo Niagara’s website and the Buffalo Eclipse Consortium website. We strongly encourage everyone to plan their timing and travel accordingly due to anticipated traffic, and don’t forget your eclipse-viewing glasses!

New York State has not experienced a total solar eclipse for nearly a century. January 24, 1925, was a cloudy winter day in Western New York and the eclipse was not visible; it got dark for a few minutes, but unfortunately, observers were unable to see the moon, the Sun, or the Sun’s corona through the clouds. The total eclipse was visible in New York City where the skies happened to be clearer.

After April 2024, the next partial solar eclipse in our region will be August 12, 2045. The next total solar eclipse over our region will be October 26, 2144.

Although both lunar and solar eclipses occur regularly, we are much less likely to see solar eclipses. The moon casts a relatively small shadow on our planet which covers a narrow band of the daytime side of earth. If the Moon’s shadow passes over open ocean or barren desert, there are few people around to view the solar eclipse.