Reputable Vendors of Solar Filters & Viewers

Solar Filters and Viewers

Here you'll find lists of reputable manufacturers of solar filters and viewers; these include companies with which members of the AAS Solar Eclipse Task Force have had prior (and positive!) experience as well as companies whose products have been certified safe by authorities we recognize and whose certification we have confirmed to be genuine. Your eyes are precious! You don't need astronomers to tell you that, but you do need astronomers to tell you where to get safe solar filters: from the companies listed on this page. To do otherwise is to take unnecessary risks. If a supplier isn't listed here, that doesn't mean its products are unsafe — only that we have no knowledge of them or that we haven't been able to confirm that their products meet the transmission requirements of the ISO 12312-2 international standard. For more information see our Eye Safety pages.

Eclipse Glasses & Handheld Solar Viewers

The following telescope and solar-filter companies manufacture and/or sell eclipse glasses, handheld solar viewers, and/or filter sheets or rolls that have been verified by a properly accredited testing laboratory to meet the transmission requirements of the ISO 12312-2 international standard for filters for direct viewing of the Sun. They are listed in alphabetical order; those noted with an asterisk (*) are outside the United States. Be sure to read our safety tips before using eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers.

Manufacturers

Note 1: Baader Planetarium's AstroSolar Safety Film and AstroSolar Photo Film, sold in the U.S. by Alpine Astronomical and Astro-Physics (see below), are not certified to meet the ISO 12312-2 international standard and are not designed to work as eclipse shades or handheld solar filters. Baader's AstroSolar Silver/Gold Film, on the other hand, does meet the transmission requirements of the ISO 12312-2 standard for filters for eyes-only direct viewing of the Sun, and that's the product we link to here.

Authorized Resellers

The following resellers offer eclipse glasses made by one or more of the companies listed above. If you buy from any of the following businesses, you know you are getting ISO-compliant safe solar viewers:

SEAL LogoFree Eclipse Glasses for Libraries

Calling all public librarians! The STAR Library Network (STAR Net), managed by the Space Science Institute, is offering free eclipse glasses along with supporting information, training, and ideas for activities to conduct at eclipse events at U.S. public libraries. Learn more, and register to participate, on the Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries (SEAL) website.

Solar Filters for Telescopes, Binoculars & Camera Lenses

Solar filters for optics are meant to go over the aperture, i.e., the front opening, and should be used only by experienced observers. Some of the sources listed below sell aperture filters made from Baader AstroSolar Safety Film. While this material, unlike the newer AstroSolar Silver/Gold Film (see above), does not meet the ISO 12312-2 international standard for eyes-only direct viewing of the Sun — it transmits slightly more ultraviolet light than the standard allows — it has been safely used by amateur and professional astronomers for several decades for observing and/or imaging the Sun through telescopes, binoculars, and camera lenses (whose glass elements filter out the excess ultraviolet light). Be sure to read our safety tips before using solar filters with optics!

Warning: Solar filters designed to thread into an eyepiece at the back end of the telescope — where you put your eye — are dangerous; sunlight concentrated by your optics could destroy it and injure your eye in a flash — literally. If you have such a filter, discard it. We'll say it again: A solar filter must be attached to the front of your telescope, binoculars, or camera lens.

To find telescopes and binoculars specially made for observing the Sun, see the Special-Purpose Solar Binoculars & Telescopes section of our Telescopes & Binoculars page.

Solar Filters for Smartphones

The following product includes a safe solar filter and a set of Velcro dots that enables you to temporarily secure the filter over the lens(es) of your smartphone camera. Using the accompanying Solar Snap app, which is available for free in versions for iPhones and Android phones, you can then choose appropriate exposure settings to shoot photos of the uneclipsed, partially eclipsed, or annularly eclipsed Sun. You can use the app to capture images of the totally eclipsed Sun, too, but you'll need to remove the filter during totality or your images will be blank.

Solar Optical Projectors

The following devices are used for indirect solar observation. They use lenses and mirrors to project an image of the Sun onto a white surface. In other words, you don't look through them — you look at them. Be sure to read our safety tips before using a solar optical projector!