Binoculars and telescopes during a solar eclipse: where filters belong (and where they do not)
A solar eclipse can make people reach for every optical gadget in the house: binoculars from a hiking bag, a small backyard telescope, a camera with a long lens, even a phone clipped behind eclipse glasses. That instinct is understandable. The Sun's crescent shape, sunspots, and the approach of totality are genuinely thrilling. But magnification changes the safety equation fast.