Hang this poster in the classroom the week before the eclipse, and take it outside on the day.
What is on the poster
Do
- Use only eclipse glasses or hand-held solar viewers that carry the ISO 12312-2 mark, from a vendor on the American Astronomical Society list.
- Inspect every filter first. Scratched, torn or loose: throw it away.
- Fit young students' glasses before the eclipse, and teach them to hold the glasses on with both hands.
- Stand still. Cover your eyes with the filter, then look up. Look away, then take the filter off.
- Supervise every child with a filter, the whole time.
- Prefer indirect viewing for young classes: a colander, a pinhole card or a box projector, with your back to the Sun.
- Take the glasses off only during totality, in the path of totality, and put them back on the moment the Sun reappears.
Never
- Look at the uneclipsed or partly eclipsed Sun with a bare eye, for any length of time.
- Use sunglasses, smoked glass, exposed film, a CD or a homemade filter.
- Look through a camera, binoculars or a telescope with eclipse glasses on, or with no solar filter on the front of the optics.
- Use a welding helmet unless it is shade 12 or darker.
- Take the glasses off while still looking at the Sun.
A retina does not feel pain. Damage from looking at the Sun shows hours later, and it can be permanent.
Built to the Science Safety Teaching Standard
This poster carries the SSTS mark. Like every Science Safety course, it is built to the Science Safety Teaching Standard (SSTS): every rule on it is taken from the body that governs it, at its current edition, and the source is printed on the poster, so you can check it yourself.
Stay current
When you get this poster, it is saved to your Science Safety account. If we revise the poster, or the Solar Eclipses module it comes from changes, we will email you, and the latest version will be waiting under Downloads in your account. Every revision carries its revision number and date at the bottom of the poster, so you can tell at a glance whether the copy on your wall is current.
Printing and hanging
- One-page PDF, US letter (8.5 by 11 inches).
- White background, so it prints clearly on any office or classroom printer without using much ink.
- Hang it in the classroom in the week before the eclipse.
- The QR code in the blue title band opens this page, so anyone can get their own copy.
- The QR code at the bottom opens the Solar Eclipses module.
Learn more
The Solar Eclipses module teaches the full topic this poster comes from.
Sources:
- Solar Eclipse Safety – NASA (reviewed September 30, 2026)
- Reputable Vendors of Solar Filters and Viewers – American Astronomical Society (reviewed September 30, 2026)
- ISO 12312-2, Eye and face protection: filters for direct observation of the sun – International Organization for Standardization (reviewed September 30, 2026)
Poster SSP-0038, Rev. 1, September 2026.
