Unless you’ve been living in a dark cave, by now you’ve heard about the solar eclipse on Monday.

The day will turn into night in many places across North America, as the moon shrouds the sun, and precautions are needed for the big celestial event.

Don’t get burned!

For the vast majority of individuals, it is unsafe to view a solar eclipse with the naked eye, warns Dr. Chad Andrews. Your dark-tinted sunglasses won’t protect you!

Although “Canadians will be viewing a partial solar eclipse, where a small sliver of the sun is still visible, this can cause permanent damage to their eyes by looking at the eclipse without the appropriate protection. Even short glimpses could be dangerous!” says Andrews, manager of research and education at The Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB.ca).

While millions of starry-eyed spectators, some travelling from Canada, are expected to gather for a glimpse of the total eclipse along the 70-mile-wide swath from Oregon to South Carolina, in Canada the eclipse will vary, ranging from the most coverage in Victoria at 90% to the least in Iqaluit at around 25%.

“Only those who are in the ‘path of totality,’ a narrow strip of geography circling the globe, will be able to view the eclipse without glasses, and even then only for a few minutes. Canada is outside of this zone,” says Andrews, adding that NASA has a great guide to safe eclipse viewing at eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety.

Moving from west to east, part of the sun will remain visible in Canada throughout the day. Showtime in Victoria is expected in the late morning, while in the Prairies the eclipse will reach its highest point between noon and 1 p.m., in Ontario and Quebec around 2:30 p.m., and on the East Coast just before 4 p.m.

You need to wear special glasses called solar filters that meet a worldwide ISO standard: specifically ISO 12312-2. Amazon sent out a warning recently about defective knockoff glasses being sold on its site, offering refunds and removing listings. Be sure yours are approved — the American Astronomical Society has a list of brands that are safe at eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters.

You may still be able to buy appropriate eyewear from a science centre or store, museum, or reputable astronomy group.

“A solar eclipse is an amazing thing to witness, but people have to remember that the sun emirates radiation that is invisible to us but can harm the back of our eyes,” warns Dr. Kevin Anderson, of Shoppes of Angus Glen Optometry in Markham. “Our retinas act like solar collectors and concentrate incoming light onto a sharp point on the back of our eyes. Directly staring at the sun even for only a few seconds can cause burns similar to using a magnifying lens to concentrate solar energy onto a point.”

Be sure making lifelong memories doesn’t turn into lifelong dead spots in the centre of your vision! The damage to your retina called solar retinopathy can occur without any sensation of pain, adds Canadian Association of Optometrists (CAO), and the injury can be temporary or permanent.

Meanwhile, time and science have eclipsed irrational fears about these spectacles: “I remember when I was in high school there was a total solar eclipse. The school was basically put on lockdown. Nobody was allowed to leave during the eclipse or move from the main building to the portables,” says Scott Fox, host on the Z103.5 Morning Show in Toronto.

“They also had the maintenance staff paper over the windows to make sure nobody looked directly at it!” says Fox, who’s ordered special viewing glasses and will be watching from his backyard.

According to the NASA website, eclipses have always been capable of producing profound psychological effects.

“For millennia, solar eclipses have been interpreted as portents of doom by virtually every known civilization. These have stimulated responses that run the gamut from human sacrifices to feelings of awe and bewilderment. Although there are no direct physical effects involving known forces, the consequences of the induced human psychological states have indeed led to physical effects.”

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If you can’t find eclipse viewers, make a pinhole projector (www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/project/how-to-make-a-pinhole-camera/) to watch the eclipse.

It’s important to only watch the screen, not the sun. Never look at the sun through the pinhole.

The Canada Space Agency website (asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/multimedia/activities/eclipse-projector.asp) includes DIY instructions for making a pinhole viewer using only a cardboard box, white paper, scissors, aluminum foil, a pin and some tape.