As last-minute shoppers scramble to find certified solar-filtered glasses to safely view Monday’s solar eclipse, a Vancouver realtor is sitting on a stash of 2,000 pairs.
"I spent several thousands of dollars on this promotion. It takes place on my birthday,” explains new Prompton Real Estate Services realtor Candace Rohrick.
But she yanked the glasses from a mailout and has been warning a handful of other recipients after someone warned her they look like counterfeit units they bought online.
"We've been phoning everyone and sending out emails just because of the risk involved I didn't recommend they use the glasses," Rohrick told CTV News.
With a rash of complaints that uncertified, counterfeit solar shield glasses are being sold online through retailers like Amazon, we decided to take Rohrick’s glasses to an expert to tell our viewers how to tell the real deal from phonies.
That expert is UBC astrophysicist Jaymie Matthews, a professor known as much for his eccentric sartorial style as his easy-to-understand explanations of celestial events.
"Even a sliver of the sun is too bright to look at safely without protection," warns Matthews.
He says even with the 86 per cent eclipse we’ll experience in Vancouver, there’s simply no way to look at the sun safely without protection from both the brightness of the sun and the UV rays that come our way and could badly damage the retina at the back of our eyes.
"You fry those cells and you would have permanent blindness," explains Matthews.
He went through a checklist when assessing Rohrick’s glasses.
1. ISO LOGO – The International Standards Organization measures and verifies whether hundreds of materials meet scientific standards. The glasses have the logo stamped on them.
2. MANUFACTURER – The American Astrological society now has a list of approved manufacturers, distributors and retailers of solar filtered and shielded glasses. American Paper Optics is at the top of that list. Though the address isn’t on the glasses, the AAS doesn’t require that they do so. You can find the list here.
3. THE RIGHT NUMBER – Certified, approved glasses will also have a phrase verifying they conform to the Transmission Requirements of the ISO with the verification number ISO 12312-2. Another element also found on Rohrick’s glasses.
4. SUN TEST – The final test should only be done once the others all check out. Matthews and I put the glasses on and looked around on what was a very bright and sunny day. Everything looked black through the glasses, not a glimmer or outline to be seen until we looked directly at the sun. We could see it glowing yellow, with whispy clouds drifting in front – something I couldn’t make out with the naked eye because it obviously hurts to look at the sun. We compared them to certified Celestron-branded glasses acquired by CTV News and the sun looked the same.
“Yes, these two [brands] both passed the test,” declared Matthews.
News of the test was a huge relief to Rohrick, who says she’ll need to assess whether she wants to resume her mailout and distribution of the glasses amid a barrage of calls and emails.
"When it comes to safety it's always good to be more cautious," she says.
Matthews suggests everyone who’s purchased eclipse glasses check them in advance of Monday’s eclipse to avoid any disappointments. If you can’t find any, several official events are taking place in Vancouver with solar shields and scientists, including the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, Telus World of Science, UBC Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, and UBC’s main campus.
The solar eclipse takes place Monday, a rare event where the sun will be fully blocked by the moon across the entire continental United States. There are no vantage points in Canada for what astronomers call the Path of Totality, where the sun is completely hidden by the moon.
On the West Coast the eclipse will begin at 9:10 a.m. with the maximum coverage taking place at 10:21 a.m. and the sun totally unobstructed again by 11:37 a.m.
