🛟 Sky safety

🦉 Looking up is safe and fun when you know the rules. Ten questions, and every answer is a rule from our grown-ups' page.

Peabody is getting the questions ready…

The answers, and why

Is it ever safe to look straight at the Sun? No, never. Never look at the Sun. It can hurt your eyes, even for a moment.
How do people watch an eclipse of the Sun safely? Special eclipse glasses, the way NASA says. NASA says to use eclipse glasses or a solar viewer made for it, with a grown-up.
Who comes outside with you to look at the night sky? A grown-up. A grown-up goes too. That's the rule, and it's more fun anyway.
How long do your eyes take to get used to the dark? About 20 minutes. About twenty minutes in the dark, and you see far more stars.
Which light keeps your night eyes best? Red light. Red light spoils night eyes least. That's why Sky Tonight has a red Outside mode.
Where is a good place to look at the stars? A dark yard, away from roads. A yard or park away from roads and lights, with a grown-up.
You want to see shooting stars. What should you bring? A warm coat and a blanket. You'll be lying still for a while, so dress warmer than you think.
What should you do with binoculars in the daytime? Never point them at the Sun. Binoculars gather sunlight and can hurt your eyes in an instant.
Sky Tonight says "if the sky is clear". Why? Clouds can hide the sky. Nothing on the card can see through clouds. Try the next clear night.
Is a shooting star a real star? No, it's a bit of space dust. A shooting star is a grain of dust burning up high in the air, not a star.

“Wrong answers are fine. That's how astronomers learn too: look, guess, look again.”