When exactly do I take my eclipse glasses off in totality? The times, town by town

Take your glasses off when the last flash of sunlight disappears behind the Moon, the second contact or C2, and put them back on as soon as the first one appears, the third contact or C3. Our times and those of the IGN (Spain’s National Geographic Institute) don’t agree to the second, so in each town in the path of totality the safe choice is to take them off at the later of the two C2 times and put them back on at the earlier C3: in Tarifa, from 10:45:11 to 10:49:38; in Málaga, from 10:48:08 to 10:49:51 (Spanish time, CEST, UTC+2). Outside the path there is no moment without glasses.

The signs for taking them off and putting them back on

NASA describes the arrival of totality like this. A few points of light remain along the Moon’s edge, Baily’s beads, which go out one by one until a single very bright one is left: the diamond ring. While you can see it, your glasses stay on. When it disappears and no direct sunlight reaches you any more, you can take them off and look with the naked eye. NASA also gives the simplest test: it is safe once you can no longer see any part of the Sun through your glasses.

The end is announced from the other side. The edge opposite the first diamond ring begins to brighten, and for NASA that is the warning to stop looking directly: your glasses must be back on before the first flash. As totality ends, the diamond ring and Baily’s beads come back, and by then you watch them through the filter. Both are explained in our learn section.

The IGN sums it up in one sentence: totality is the only phase when you can look at the Sun without glasses, but you must be very careful not to do so “until you are sure the Sun is completely covered” and to stop “before it ends”. The Trío de Eclipses website, the official eclipse site of Spain’s Ministry of Science, is even more cautious: it recommends keeping them on at all times and reminds you that it is only safe to remove them during absolute totality, when the Moon covers 100% of the Sun. As soon as the first ray of light appears, you have to protect your eyes again.

The times in twelve towns

C2 and C3 in mainland Spanish time, ours first and then the IGN’s. The last two columns give the window without glasses: the later C2 and the earlier C3.

Each of the 105 towns with totality has its own page with both times, and you can look yours up in Will I see it?.

Why there are two times, and which to use

The IGN’s times come about ten seconds earlier than ours and NASA’s. Both are serious calculations, and the safe choice is the stretch where they overlap. In practice, the IGN’s C3 is the earlier one in all 105 towns with totality, and our C2 is the later one in 99 of them.

In the other six, the IGN’s C2 is later than ours or ties with it, as in Jerez de la Frontera, which is why it appears in the table. The rest are Mijas, El Bosque, Sayalonga, Rubite and Ítrabo, and their pages give both times.

That window is a little shorter than the official duration: across the path it loses between zero and fifteen seconds. In exchange, you won’t be caught with the Sun unprotected because you picked the wrong time.

There is another reason not to rely on the exact second: the times are for one specific point in each municipality. The Tarifa page uses a point inland; in the town itself, beside the Strait of Gibraltar, our engine gives C2 at 10:45:08 and C3 at 10:49:48. Take the time for your spot as a guide and let the signs in the sky decide.

What not to do

Don’t take them off a little early to get a better look at the diamond ring: it is part of the partial phase, and NASA specifically says to keep your glasses on while it lasts. Don’t wait until the last second to put them back on either: with the Sun about 37-41° up in the path, you will have to lower your eyes, put them on and look up again, so get them ready as soon as the edge starts to brighten.

Outside the path the eclipse is partial the whole time, even at 99.9% as in Almería: there is no totality there and the glasses never come off. If you are going to look through binoculars or a telescope, the rules change: see binoculars and telescopes during the eclipse.

Before all this, you need the glasses. On Order your glasses you can ask for ours: cardboard, with the EN ISO 12312-2 certificate, along with the phone filter and packs for groups. We reply with the price and the delivery time.

Sources: NASA — What to Expect (Baily’s beads, the diamond ring, glasses off at second contact and the cue to put them back on before third contact); NASA — Eclipse Viewing Safety (safe once you can see nothing of the Sun through your glasses; glasses back on as soon as it reappears); IGN — Qué se ve en un eclipse total (in Spanish: the only phase without glasses, with care as it begins and before it ends); Trío de Eclipses, official website of Spain’s Ministry of Science — Salud visual (in Spanish: recommends keeping them on; only safe in absolute totality; protect your eyes at the first ray of light); AAS — How to View a Solar Eclipse Safely (filter off only when the Moon completely covers the Sun’s bright face, and back on as soon as it reappears); C2 and C3 times, IGN durations, the Sun’s altitude and the point in Tarifa town: eclipseando data (skyfield engine + DE440s) checked against the IGN’s times.