As the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse date inches closer, NASA is making sure to educate the public so people don't sear their eyes like tuna steaks taking in the once-in-a-lifetime sight.
For the first time in 99 years, a total solar eclipse will cross the United States coast-to-coast when the moon passes in front of the sun on Aug. 21. It is set to be the first significant eclipse in the U.S. since 1970 as it is expected to be visible across a 70-mile band that stretches from Oregon to South Carolina.
The U.S. space agency says the only safe way to look directly at the partially eclipsed sun is through special solar filters, eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers. NASA warns consumers to make sure solar-viewing items are updated, as they need to meet ISO 12312-2 for optimal safety.
NASA also says to not look at the Sun or partially eclipsed Sun through unfiltered cameras, telescopes or binoculars.
"Homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses, even very dark ones, are not safe for looking at the sun," NASA says.
"In the 70-mile-wide swath of the country that will experience a total eclipse, it's safe to look at the total eclipse with your naked eyes only during the brief period of totality, which will last about two minutes, depending on your location."
Another homemade method detailed by the agency is the pinhole projector, in which sunlight moves through a small hole onto a makeshift screen.
Basically, take a pencil, poke a hole in a piece of paper and place another piece of paper on the ground. Make sure the sunlight streams through the piece of paper onto the other one, and make sure to watch the makeshift screen and not the actual sun itself.
For more eclipse-viewing ideas, click here.
The U.S. space agency will continue rolling out safety tips and methods for viewing the historical event in the months leading up. Once Aug. 21 comes, NASA Television will air hours of coverage, with images of the eclipse from 11 difference spacecrafts, at least three NASA aircrafts, more than 50 high-altitude balloons and, of course, the astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
The eclipse's zone of totality does not pass into Michigan, so a little travel to either Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina or South Carolina.
A drive time map provided by GreatAmericanEclipse.com offers highway routes from major U.S. cities to the locations of the eclipse and estimated driving times depending on where you go to see the eclipse.
Total solar eclipses are rare in the United States and only a handful are expected over the next few decades. But don't worry Michigan, a total solar eclipse is expected to pass over a large southern portion of the state.
And that will happen on Sept. 14, 2099.