You should not look directly at the sun or through a camera or telescope as it may cause blindness, but if you have equipment that allows you to safely photograph the eclipse
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Advice from NASA on viewing and photographing an eclipse
KEY POINTS:
A partial eclipse of the sun was visible around the country this afternoon.
Times varied by a few minutes but in Auckland it started at 4.48pm and finish about two hours later. The time of maximum eclipse in the region was be at 5.52pm when 47 per cent of the sun will be covered by the moon.
Maximum eclipse in Christchurch occured at 5.37pm when 53 per cent of the sun's surface will be covered.
Graham Murray from the Auckland Stardome warned people not to look at the sun directly, or through a camera, binoculars or telescope, as that could cause permanent damaging, including the possibility of blindness.
Mr Murray said an electical welder's mask can be used. Also using a group of people, if one person holds up a pair of binoculars in front of a piece of cardboard, an image of a crescent can be photographed.
But Mr Murray stressed that people should not look directly at the eclipse.
"It's just a no-no. Never look at it through binoculars, a telescope, or camera," Mr Murray said.
He said lens filters are needed when photographing an eclipse because of the high amount of contrast.
- Newstalk ZB
