Can anyone suggest a good website to buy astronomy equipment?

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    Astronomy Equipment
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around recommendations for purchasing astronomy equipment, specifically solar glasses and filters in preparation for an upcoming total solar eclipse. Participants share various sources and personal experiences related to acquiring safe viewing equipment.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Technical explanation, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses concern about purchasing solar glasses and filters randomly on Amazon and seeks reliable options.
  • Another participant suggests defining specific needs and recommends searching for lists of the best solar glasses from reputable sources like ThePlanets.org and BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
  • A participant lists several popular astronomy equipment websites that may offer suitable products.
  • One contributor mentions American Paper Optics as a manufacturer of eclipse glasses and shares their positive experience from a previous eclipse, including details about bulk orders.
  • Another participant notes purchasing solar filter material from Thousand Oaks Optical via Amazon.
  • A participant shares that some libraries provide free solar eclipse glasses as part of a sponsorship program.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the importance of finding reliable sources for solar viewing equipment, but there are multiple suggestions and no consensus on a single best option.

Contextual Notes

Some recommendations depend on personal experiences and may vary in reliability. The discussion includes various sources and types of equipment, but specific product effectiveness is not evaluated.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals preparing for the solar eclipse, astronomy enthusiasts, and those interested in safe solar viewing practices.

LightningInAJar
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I am looking into proper and well tested solar glasses for the upcoming total eclipse next year. Also solar film and clip to attach to my camera so I can do a video. I'm scared to just buy randomly on Amazon.
 
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I would suggest that you begin by explicitly defining what you are looking for in the products. As an example, a Google search of "best solar glasses" yields a number of lists from places like ThePlanets.org and BBC Sky at Night Magazine with recommendations. Many of those recommended glasses are available at Amazon or other websites that are given.

Same procedure applies to a filter for your camera.
 
American Paper Optics makes them in the USA. Their website dedicated to Eclipse glasses is:
https://www.eclipseglasses.com/

I bought a bunch of them for the last eclipse and handed them out to the neighborhood. They at least used to also have viewers without the earpieces to be handheld, since these have a single large rectangular lens they work with cameras too.

I told the neighbors that if they returned the viewers to me, I would keep the for the next eclipse (that's the upcoming one in October).

(The company also does bulk orders, 3D glasses, and custom orders)

Cheers,
Tom
 
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I just bought some solar filter material from Thousand Oaks Optical, via Amazon.
 
Awesome. Thanks. Don't want to burn my eyes or camera out. Lol.
 
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I know that some libraries do some solar eclipse sponsoring (I think the program is called SEAL), my public library has free solar eclipse glasses. They work out okay
 

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