It is important to never look directly at the sun and follow proper guidance for safely viewing the eclipse.
Eclipse glasses – which will be handed out at events across Scotland hosted by astronomical societies or bought online – can offer protection from harmful rays of sunlight.
Legitimate pairs will have safety certification ISO 12312-2 or ISO 12312-2:2015 printed somewhere on the glasses, according the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
Regular sunglasses do not provide adequate protection.
“Even if you don’t feel like it is painful to look at the Sun, it is still really damaging to the retina,” Heymans said.
“It is a two-hour extravaganza as the Moon slowly covers the Sun and then moves away again so it is not just one glimpse, and it is really dangerous to keep looking.”
She added there is a temptation to look at the Sun through the cloud but even that can harm the eyes.
Following the 1999 total solar eclipse, the Royal College of Ophthalmologists reported about 70 cases of people experiencing vision problems after watching the eclipse.
The college said about 40% of those people had looked at it for less than a minute.
