Eclipse- is it safe to watch through your phone on selfie mode?

[Wonderwoman333]

Does anyone know if it's safe for your eyes to turn your back to the sun and put your phone in selfie mode to watch the eclipse?
I left it too late to buy glasses.

Is it down to the amount of time the phone will be pointing at the sun during an eclipse? I frequently take photos with the sun as a backdrop/puctures directly of the sun etc and had no idea this could damage my phone! Maybe I’ve been lucky so far!

The sun is very bright (statement of the bleeding obvious)!

On a bright night, the full moon on a bright night has an apparent magnitude on the
astronomical brightness scale. The sun at 6PM in the UK will have an apparent magnitude of -27. It’s a weird scale (log based 10^(2/5)), but it means the sun will be over 100,000x brighter than the full moon on a bright night; it’s not to be messed with!

I wasn’t surprised that phones couldn’t take pics of the sun but I was surprised that you could damage them. I would have thought that they would have had protective features built in, but clearly not.

When I was at school we used a candle and a glass slide. We got the glass slide really sooty with the camera flame and then looked at the sun through the slide. I assume that is still possible! I know few people will have slides but old glasses (of any description) should work just as well.

• Sorry , the moon has an apparent magnitude of -13

🤣🤣🤣 Cheered me up no end!

Photos are just short burst of exposure to the sunlight with your camera not directly pointing at the sun, think of how you had to line a magnifying glass perfectly to get the 'burn' when your were a kid. Watching the entire eclipse via your selfie camera while it's pointed directly at the sun is far more likely to damage your phone camera sensor.

No one in the UK will see the total eclipse of the heart and it might be cloudy and it won’t get pitch black.

I watched the one two years ago in the US live on the BBC and I can say their coverage was very good though, so there’s that.

Anyone who is disappointed by it should be aware there are total eclipses of the heart on average every year and a half or two years or something, check out when the next ones are and base a holiday around those?

I'm not sure why people are being so impatient on this thread! So can I confirm: if we use a phone in selfie mode, there is a risk it will damage the camera (I'll be using an old phone I don't care about) but it's fine for our eyes?

Look here for a list…

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/

The BBC News channel has eclipse programmes most of today, and the BBC news website will have a ‘live’ story at the top of their page nearer the time (that’s how I watched the US eclipse).

Actually the BBC live news is already on now…..

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c4gwd5rwvx5t

yup but generally we weren't stupid then. I remember the time before the internet when all information came out of books and books were expensive. They weren't edited or removed when information was disproven so you could still find books in schools and libraries that were plain wrong. Its not being stupid when you can't access recent valid information. It IS being stupid when you can access valid recent information and STILL get stuff wrong.

This eclipse has made me realise just how dumb most people are.

No it will be blurry if you make the hole bigger. I know its hard to imaging but it works with a pin hole

only if you are SURE that at no time will you be looking directly at the sun even by accidentally looking up to line up the phone. I mean if you want to risk blinding yourself then knock yourself out.

not most but deffo some.

I saw a news segment that said you could watch it selfie style, then saw something today that said nasa advise against it.

This made me laugh. In 1999 I was actually home from University but my mum closed the curtains so we didn't risk damaging our eyes 😂

I was around for the 1999 one and the best bit was it getting darker and colder and the birds going quiet and still. I am planning to soak up the atmosphere and not look at the sun.

Yes that is correct, as long as you have your back to the sun and are looking at phone in selfie mode

Apparently using your phone in selfie mode is only safe if you use a solar filter over the lens , those with an old phone spare they don’t need is a good option

Oh well done !!

I have taken photos of the sun before it sets when red and low on the horizon. I seem to remember taking photos with my phone of the partial eclipse in 2015. I can definitely understand how you wouldn't want to watch it via your phone camera but a quick snap seems unlikely to damage your phone? Or is it much more likely to damage sensors then photographing the setting sun as its not yet that close to the horizon?

Oh bravo 😁😁😁

Taking photos of eclipse can damage phones

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/08/12/solar-eclipse-2026-latest-glasses-sell-out-as-uk-prepares/

The instructions on the BBC site said to poke it with a biro - so a bit bigger than a pin.

I'm away in my campervan so I'm going to use a colander and a notebook.