Suppliers of Safe Solar Filters & Viewers

Solar Filters and Viewers

Here you'll find links to suppliers of solar filters and viewers that you can be confident are safe when used properly. These include companies and organizations with which members of the AAS Solar Eclipse Task Force have had prior (and positive!) experience as well as companies and organizations that have demonstrated to our satisfaction that their products meet certain requirements of the ISO 12312-2 international standard, as described on our About the ISO 12312-2 Standard for Solar Viewers" page. If a supplier isn't listed below, that doesn't necessarily mean its products are unsafe — see the disclaimer below. For instructions on how to observe the Sun safely, see our Eye Safety pages. Suppliers: See below for instructions on how to get listed on this page.

Eclipse Glasses & Handheld Solar Viewers | Solar Filters for Optics | Solar Filters for Smartphones | Solar Optical Projectors

Eclipse Glasses & Handheld Solar Viewers

The following companies manufacture, import, and/or distribute eclipse glasses, handheld solar viewers, and/or sheets or rolls of solar-filter material for direct viewing of the Sun's bright face. They are listed in alphabetical order; those with an asterisk (*) are either manufacturing or importing from outside the United States (generally either Europe or China). Be sure to read our safety tips before using eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers.

Important: You'll notice that we don't list Amazon, eBay, or other online marketplaces here. In the weeks leading up to the August 2017 U.S. solar eclipse, such sites hosted numerous sellers of eclipse glasses and other solar viewers that had not been properly tested and shown to be safe. We recommend that if you shop in an online marketplace (for example, to find eclipse glasses at the lowest price), you make sure that (1) the seller is identified on the site and (2) the seller is listed on this page. Otherwise you can't be sure you're getting a product you can trust to protect your eyes.

Also important: Some vendors claim that their solar viewers are approved or endorsed by NASA. NASA does not approve or endorse products. Some vendors print the ISO logo on their viewers or claim that they're "ISO certified." ISO prohibits the use of their logo on products and does not certify products; only properly accredited test labs can certify that products meet ISO standards, as noted on our "About the ISO 12312-2 Standard" page. We don't know if vendors who do these things are unaware of NASA's and ISO's policies or are deliberately ignoring them. In any case, if a vendor is listed on this page, we trust that their products are safe. Sellers who wish to indicate as much on their website should not claim approval or endorsement by the AAS; instead, they should say something like this: "Recognized by the American Astronomical Society's Solar Eclipse Task Force as a supplier of safe solar viewers/filters,” preferably with a link back to this page or to our home page (eclipse.aas.org). Except when adjacent to a statement substantially of that form, the AAS logo may not be used on websites, products, or packaging without prior authorization.

Manufacturers / Importers / Distributors

*Suppliers marked with an asterisk are either manufacturing or importing from outside the United States.

Note: 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 transmittance requirements of the ISO 12312-2 standard for filters for eyes-only direct viewing of the everyday Sun, and that's the product we link to above.

Resellers

The following companies and organizations sell eclipse glasses made by one or more of the manufacturers, importers, and/or distributors listed above. We link to quite a few Australian resellers because they may have surplus viewers following the April 20, 2023, solar eclipse in that country. When other countries are listed in parentheses, it indicates their primary market, but in most cases they'll ship worldwide. (Note that international shipping may be subject to delays and extra costs.) If you buy from any of the following businesses, you can be confident that you're getting safe solar viewers. 

Large National Retail Chains

Some (not all) locations of the following retail chains sell ISO-compliant safe eclipse glasses and/or handheld viewers made by one or more of the companies listed at the top of this page, so you can confidently buy solar viewers if you find them in their stores — but not necessarily on their websites, as some chains use different suppliers for their websites than they do for their stores. (If you can tell that a chain's website is selling one of the brands listed elsewhere on this page, go for it!) Links are provided here to help you locate the retail store nearest you:

SEAL LogoFree Eclipse Glasses for Libraries

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 on the Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries (SEAL) website. If you're a librarian, you can register to participate. If you're an eclipse enthusiast looking for free eclipse glasses, check with your local library to see if they've got any.

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; some also sell this film in sheets with which you can make your own aperture filters. While this material, unlike the newer AstroSolar Silver/Gold Film (see above), does not meet the transmittance requirements of 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!

Unsafe Eyepiece Solar FilterWarning: 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, such as the example shown at right, 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 products include safe solar filters and Velcro or other fasteners that enable you to temporarily secure a filter over the lens(es) of your smartphone camera.

  • Solar Snap (Doug Duncan & American Paper Optics)
    • This is the first such product to appear on the market. Using the accompanying Solar Snap app, which is available for free in versions for iPhones and Android phones, you can easily choose appropriate exposure settings to shoot photos of the uneclipsed, partially eclipsed, or annularly eclipsed Sun through the included solar filter. 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.
  • SafeShot (Grafix Arts / Grafix Plastics)
    • Made of heavy-duty cardboard, this product has two solar filters: a dark visual filter that you can look through and a lighter filter for your smartphone's camera; this means you can take pictures and view the Sun at the same time. Instructions on the SafeShot website explain how to use your phone's native camera app or a third-party camera app to dial in the appropriate exposure settings. Thanks to the light photographic filter, you should be able to capture images of the inner corona during totality without having to detach your smartphone from the device.
  • Cell Phone Solar Viewer (Solares, LLC)
    • Like SafeShot but made of lighter-weight cardboard, this product includes two solar filters so that you can shoot photos and view the Sun with your eyes at the same time. But in this case both filters are dark enough for visual use, so you'll have to disconnect your smartphone from the cardboard if you want to shoot images during totality. With all such products, advance experimentation on the uneclipsed Sun and the full Moon (which is about as bright as the totally eclipsed Sun) is the key to successful imaging, whether using the Solar Snap app (which will work with any of these products), your smartphone's native camera app, or a third-party camera app.

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!

And check out the Sun Funnel, an inexpensive do-it-yourself projection device that works with a small telescope to provide a safe solar viewing experience for groups. Download a free PDF with detailed instructions for making and using one.

Note to Suppliers: If you're not on this page and want to be added, see "How to Get Onto Our List of Suppliers of Safe Solar Filters & Viewers."

Disclaimer: We cannot commit to listing every company or organization that sells or gives away safe eclipse glasses and/or handheld solar viewers, as there are literally hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of such suppliers, including science museums, planetariums, observatories, university astronomy departments, primary and secondary schools, amateur astronomy clubs, convention and visitor bureaus, tour operators, large stores, small shops, and more. We reserve the right to list only major retailers and organizations with significant national or regional distribution. Before buying or accepting eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers, ask who made them or imported them. Be wary if you don't get a clear answer and/or if the supplier isn't listed on this page.