TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - As Britain prepares for its most significant solar eclipse in 27 years on August 12, health experts are advising the public to use a simple kitchen colander to view solar eclipse projections safely. With the Moon expected to obscure over 90 percent of the Sun in the UK's deepest partial eclipse until 2081, health officials and astronomers are strongly warning the public against looking directly at the sky.
To view the event safely without risking permanent eye damage, officials at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) advise using specialized solar filter glasses or simple household projection methods, such as letting sunlight pass through a colander, a kitchen steamer, or the gaps between tree leaves onto a sheet of white paper.
How to View Solar Eclipse Safely
Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society, told The Telegraph that while the path of totality spans northern Russia, Greenland, Iceland, and northern Spain, the UK will still experience a dramatic event.
"In the UK, this will be the deepest partial eclipse until 2081, with up to 96 percent of the Sun blocked by the silhouette of the Moon in the evening sky, and the best views in the far south-west of England," Massey said, adding that while the sky will dim and shadows will cast distinct crescent shapes, the remaining sliver of the Sun remains extremely dangerous to observe without certified eye protection.
For those without specialized eclipse glasses, simple kitchen utensils offer an easy alternative. Professor Lucie Green, chief astronomer at the Society of Popular Astronomy and a physics professor at University College London, described the event as an "impressive spectacle" and suggested creating a pinhole projector using a cereal box or a colander.
"Stand with your back to the Sun and let the sunlight pass through the colander, and on the ground you’ll notice beautiful images of the crescent Sun," Green noted.
Hidden Risks of Eye Damage
Health experts emphasize that standard sunglasses offer insufficient protection against solar radiation. John O'Hagan, former head of the optical radiation group at Public Health England, warned that sunglasses merely reduce glare while allowing harmful rays into dilated pupils.
According to the UKHSA, following the UK's last total solar eclipse in 1999, the Royal College of Ophthalmologists recorded roughly 70 cases of vision damage, 40 percent of which occurred in individuals who looked at the Sun for less than a minute.
When and Where to Watch the Solar Eclipse
The solar eclipse will begin in the early evening on August 12, starting at approximately 6:08 p.m. in Scotland, 6:13 p.m. in Manchester and Liverpool, and 6:17 p.m. in London, Bristol, and Cardiff, with the peak expected at around 7:13 p.m. Observers in Cornwall will see the greatest coverage at over 95 percent, compared to 93 percent in Cardiff and 89 percent in Aberdeen.
Read: Spain's Solar Eclipse Trilogy: Spectacle Starting August 12
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