Fulton County Public Library branches hosting Eclipse Viewing Party Monday

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The Fulton County Public Library will be hosting an Eclipse Viewing Party on Monday at all three of their branches in Rochester, Fulton and Leiters Ford.

Fulton County Public Library Director Andrea Stineback said they're asking guests attending the event to arrive by 1:20 p.m.

At the Rochester branch, the event will be held at the Library Arbortum. The event will include free glasses, snacks and what's hoped to be, an experience of a lifetime.

In March, the American Astronomical Society (AAS) Solar Eclipse Task Force warned of counterfeit and fake eclipse glasses being sold across the US.  Counterfeit solar viewers are ones that are made by one manufacturer, but are fraudulently printed with the name of a different manufacturer, including artwork and branding.

Official, safe solar glasses block the majority of the the Sun’s ultraviolet (UV), visible, and infrared (IR) light. They are much different from your ordinary sunglasses. Overexposure to the eye from the solar eclipse has been known to cause severe eye injury, ranging from temporarily impaired vision to permanent blindness. It has been noted that filters that provide safety while viewing the solar eclipse are at least 1,000 times darker than even the darkest regular sunglasses. 

It wasn't until recently that the only counterfeit products AAS knew of were cardboard-frame eclipse glasses, known to be made in China by an unidentified factory. Some are now known to be printed with the “Mfg. by: American Paper Optics” (APO) brand on them.

APO has been one of the major U.S. manufacturers for safe solar glasses and always print their name them. The Chinese copycat products, however, have APO’s name but lack printing the address. The AAS stated that thankfully, these particular counterfeits appear safer to consumers than most think. 

Others are deemed unsafe, yet look like standard eclipse glasses. When putting these fake glasses on, many viewers soon realize the glasses seem no darker than typical sunglasses, making them not safe for viewing the solar eclipse. 

(Pictured glasses on top are counterfeit from China that are printed with "Mfg. by: American Paper Optics," a U.S. company. Bottom glasses featured are real eclipse glasses from American Paper Optics. Notice that the counterfeit glasses have lenses with straight, black left and right edges. Genuine APO glasses are reflective and have edges curved left and right. Phot is courtesy of the American Paper Optics and the American Astronomical Society.)

The AAS Solar Eclipse Task Force has confirmed that all known U.S., European, and even several Chinese manufacturers of solar glasses have had the products tested by labs, and are shown to be safe. The task force has compiled a list of vendors of safe solar viewers, for anyone questioning the legitimacy of their solar eclipse glasses. 

It was noted that if you don't see a vendor listed on the AAS solar eclipse website, it does not necessarily mean the product is unsafe. They have, however, listed more than 100 sellers of solar viewers, but there are hundreds more. AAS says especially on sites like Amazon, Etsy, and eBay, which can't all possibly vetted. The task force does recommend that you make sure the eclipse glasses purchased for Monday come from one of the manufacturers on their list. Stineback said the glasses the library will be passing out for Monday's event will be safe, legitimate solar eclipse glasses.

As a way to prevent residents from being scammed and seriously injured, Stineback said that free solar eclipse glasses can also be given ahead of time for Fulton County residents to use, in case they are unable to attend the event.