How to view the Sun safely
There are many ways to observe our star without risking your eyes
Looking directly at the solar disc is dangerous and it can potentially cause permanent damage to your eyesight. You should never look at the Sun directly, especially through an unfiltered telescope or binoculars.
Fortunately, there are many methods you can use to look at the Sun safely. One is to project the view through a telescope onto a white piece of card with a secondary card to act as a sunshade to create a dark area – that will help improve contrast. Remember to cap off any optical finder to ensure no one looks through it accidentally.
You can also buy a Hershel wedge or prism, which replaces your diagonal in a refractor and transmits a much reduced, safe amount of light to the eyepiece or camera. There are also white light solar filters that can be fixed to the front aperture or opening of all telescopes. You can buy the film and make a filter yourself or buy a pre-made one. Just make sure it fits snuggly so it won’t fall off when you are looking through the scope.
You don’t have to stick to white light either. For several years now dedicated hydrogen-alpha (Ha) scopes and filters have been available to view prominences and surface detail in this wavelength. Today, this also extends to specialised eyepieces that can be used for imaging and observing in magnesium, sodium and calcium-K wavelengths too. This adds a new dimension to eclipse and transit observations by providing multiwavelength observations of our nearest star.