need to be expensive our colleagues at the wirecutter a new york times company dedicated to testing and recommending the best products suggest the celestron eclipsmart power viewers which are made of paper and come in a twopack along with a mapdo it yourselfa pinhole projector is another safe way of watching the eclipse and you can make one yourself with two thin pieces of cardboard or paper plates heres how put one piece of cardboard or paper plate on the ground poke a tiny round hole into the other piece of cardboard with your back facing the sun raise the cardboard with the hole in above your head and aim the hole at the cardboard on the ground the hole will project an image of the crescent shape of the eclipse more on experiencing an eclipsedos and dontsdosdo wear eclipse glasses the only safe way to view the eclipse during its partial phases is to wear eclipse filters we already suggested a few you should consider but even if you dont go with those glasses that meet the proper international safety standards should have a certification of iso 123122 do bring binoculars to look at the eclipsed sun but never look at the sun during its partial phases with plainold binoculars as we said earlier you can get slideon filters to keep your eyes safedontsdont look directly at the sun when any part of its bright face is still visible whether you are in the line of totality or outside of it never look at the sun without proper solar filters during the partial phases of the eclipse dont use sunglasses instead of eclipse glasses sunglasses do not cut it properly certified eclipse glasses are 100000 times darker than sunglasses according to dr fienberg and they filter out the harmful ultraviolet and infrared radiation dont look at the sun through a telescope or binoculars while wearing solar eclipse glasses this is extremely dangerous according to dr fienberg because the concentrated sunlight coming through the optics of the telescope or binoculars could burn through the filter and damage your eyes only look at the sun during the partial phases of the eclipse with binocular or telescopes that have specially designed solar filters dont use a welders mask most likely a typical welders mask that a person might have in his house is not strong enough to be used during an eclipse only masks that have filters of shade 14 or 15 are viable dr fienberg says that youre much better off using a pair of eclipse glasses sign up for the science times newsletterwell bring you stories that capture the wonders of the human body nature and the cosmosthe science of an eclipsewhy is an eclipse so specialthis perfect sunmoonearth alignment is an extraordinary cosmic coincidence the sun is 400 times larger than the moon but it also happens to be 400 times farther away which to the observer on the ground means they are almost identical in size the