Experts warn not to look at solar eclipse with your phone camera — but share tricks for safely taking pictures

Millions of Americans will be able to see the solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, and it’s likely that many will want to whip out their phones and take photos to document the rare event.

Experts warn that it is essential not only to protect your eyes from the sun, but also to be careful when using your phone to view or take photos of the solar eclipse.

A partial solar eclipse, when the Moon blocks part of the Sun, will occur coast to coast, while a total solar eclipse – when the Moon aligns with the Sun, blocking all of its light – will occur visible in the “way of totality”, stretching across more than a dozen states, from Texas to Maine.

“There is no safe time to look at the sun without protection, period,” said Dr. Christopher Starr, director of the fellowship program in cornea, cataract and laser vision correction surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine, said in an interview with Health Matters, NewYork-Presbyterian’s online newspaper. “Not a split second, not half a second, not a quarter of a second. At no time should a child or an adult look at the sun, even when the sun is partially eclipsed. It is still unsafe.”

O safer way looking at a partially eclipsed sun is like eclipse glasses that meet an international standard, ISO 12312-2, according to the American Optometric Association.

Can I take photos of the solar eclipse with my cell phone?

Cellphone cameras should not be pointed directly at the sun as this can damage the phone’s sensor, experts say.

Smartphones were never designed to take photos of the sun or moon, according to NASA. Because standard lenses are so small, they are not equipped with the resolution needed for the largest objects in the sky, such as the sun and moon.

“Cellphone cameras do not have the type of protective filters necessary for safe or successful solar photography,” Dr. Geoff Bradford, a professor of ophthalmology at West Virginia University, told CBS News.

Photographing the partial eclipse with a smartphone will likely not only damage the camera’s sensor, but also result in an overexposed photo, Bradford said.

Douglas Goodwin, a professor of media studies at Scripps College and an expert in computational photography, agrees.

“Smartphone cameras in 2024 will have small sensors and lenses, making it difficult to capture detailed images of the eclipse itself,” Goodwin said in an interview. “Taking photos of an eclipse is even harder than taking photos of the moon – it’s small and gorgeous!”

Can I look at the sun on my cell phone screen?

Pointing your cell phone at the sun is bad for your phone, but it can also be dangerous to your eyes if you look at the sun on your cell phone screen, experts say.

Except for the few moments of total eclipse, when the Sun is completely obscured, “seeing the Sun with your bare eyes or through a cell phone screen is extremely dangerous,” said Bradford, warning that all visual contact with the Sun only occurs through specials. solar eclipse glasses that meet international standards.

This international security standard, established by International Organization for Standardizationmeans the glasses reduce visible sunlight to a safe level and block ultraviolet and infrared radiation, in accordance with the American Astronomical Society website.

Ultraviolet radiation can damage eye cells, while heat from infrared radiation can cause thermal damage, according to the National Eye Institute.

What is the safest way to take eclipse photos?

O solar eclipse It has multiple stages and effects, and some are safer to photograph than others.

“Smartphones will be great for capturing the eclipse experience,” Goodwin said. This includes the effects of altered lighting around us.

“Keep your head down and look under shady trees for crescent-shaped projections of the eclipsed sun on the ground,” Goodwin said. “Plus, you will observe how strange light affects people and animals.”

Goodwin also recommended that people in the eclipse’s path look for shadow bands, which are mysterious gray ripples that snake across the ground just before and after the total eclipse.

If you really want to photograph the partially covered sun, grab an extra pair of solar eclipse glasses, cut them off, and attach one of the filters to your phone’s camera lens, Bradford said. If your smartphone has multiple lenses, make sure they are all covered.

If you are using an iPhone, you must turn off the camera macro mode by placing a filter in front of the camera.

“Do not look at the sun, even briefly, while pointing your camera at the sky,” Bradford said. “To magnify the eclipse beyond what your camera’s zoom allows, you can purchase a clip-on zoom lens for your smartphone for more dramatic photos.”

Can I take photos of the sun when it is completely obstructed?

If you are in path of totalityDuring the few minutes of total eclipse, you can look up without eye protection and take unfiltered photos with a smartphone, Bradford said.

But it’s important to be aware that the total eclipse is a fleeting occurrence. Once the moon begins to move away from the sun and sunlight reappears, make sure your eclipse glasses and camera filter are back on, Bradford advised.

Some experts warn against looking at the sun even when it is completely obstructed, because of how suddenly sunlight can reappear.

“Eclipse totality only lasts about 1 to 3 minutes based on geographic location, and intense sunlight may appear suddenly as the moon continues to move,” an eclipse viewing guide published in JAMA noted, adding that “even a few seconds of viewing the sun during an eclipse” can temporarily or permanently damage your vision.

Looking at a partial eclipse without the protection of filters can cause permanent and irreversible eye damage, including blind spots, distorted vision and decreased color vision, Bradford said.

During the few dark moments of the total eclipse, Goodwin recommends using your smartphone’s HDR (High Dynamic Range) and Night modes to enhance photographs. HDR mixes exposures to capture a range of brightness levels, while night mode uses image stacking to create well-lit photos in low-light conditions, Goodwin said.

You can use the iPhone’s Wide and Ultra Wide cameras during almost total darkness.