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Counterfeit Eclipse Viewers Prompt Planetarium Rush

Clark Planetarium and the John Am Moran Eye Center want Utahns to toss out potentially faulty eclipse viewers.

Seth Jarvis, the planetarium’s director, says legitimate sun viewers include company contact information.

“The manufacturer is identified by name, by address,” he says. “They give you their phone number. They give you their web site. They even give you an email address. All of that is on these glasses so that you can see who’s making them.”

Moran offered viewers to the public that it had purchased through Amazon-dot-com. Amazon is recalling them now, because it could not certify that they will provide strong-enough eye protection. Viewing eclipse with substandard safety glasses can damage the eyes permanently.

Millcreek resident Linda Williams is headed to Idaho with her husband and friends for a good look at the total solar eclipse on August 21.  She is waiting Tuesday in a long line at Clark Planetarium to pick up some certified viewers. They include all the address information and the Clark Planetarium’s name.

“That’s why I’m here,” she says. “To make sure, just in case. We’re supposed to get glasses up there, but I don’t want to, you know, be out of luck. So, here I am making sure to have some real ones with us.”

Here are instructions from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on making homemade eclipse projectors and other fun projects.

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Judy Fahys has reported in Utah for two decades, covering politics, government and business before taking on environmental issues. She loves covering Utah, where petroleum-pipeline spills, the nation’s radioactive legacy and other types of pollution provide endless fodder for stories. Previously, she worked for the Salt Lake Tribune in Utah, and reported on the nation’s capital for States News Service and the Scripps League newspaper chain. She is a longtime member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors. She also spent an academic year as a research fellow in the Knight Science Journalism program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In her spare time, she enjoys being out in the environment, especially hiking, gardening and watercolor painting.
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