00:00Are you excited for the eclipse tomorrow?
00:02Yes.
00:02It's something incredible, I think, you know.
00:06I'm very excited. We've been following the news about the solar eclipse for a month now.
00:12Many people across Kent are getting excited about the solar eclipse tomorrow,
00:16but how is it that people can actually stay safe without protective glasses?
00:20This comes as a frantic rush has swept not just across Kent, but the UK,
00:25as people scramble to find the right kind of protective eyewear ahead of tomorrow's partial solar eclipse.
00:32High Street stores are running out, while online shoppers who managed to find a pair
00:36are being warned they may not arrive until the end of the week.
00:40And here in Kent, demand is proving just as high.
00:44Today I'm in the midst of trying to find some glasses in order to watch it in the best way
00:51possible.
00:52No, I forgot to get glasses, but yeah, I should try and watch it somehow,
00:56maybe try and pick up some today.
00:58So how can we stay safe while watching the eclipse if we don't have the correct eyewear?
01:03The sun surface that you see, even if 90% of the sun is covered,
01:09it's still as bright per unit area as when the sun is uncovered.
01:15So it's dangerous to look directly at the sun at any time with the naked eye.
01:21You can damage your eyesight very badly by looking directly at the sun.
01:24So we either use special solar glasses, which are available,
01:27or alternatively, as I said, project through a pinhole onto a white surface,
01:33and then you get a nice image of the sun.
01:35The fact that, in fact, the sun will be quite low in the sky in the west-northwest
01:40means that it's quite easy to have projection onto a vertical surface.
01:46It's important to remember that ordinary glasses, unfiltered cameras and binoculars
01:51will not protect your eyes from the sun.
01:54Maisie Walker for KMTV, Rochester.
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