# Can you use your phone in selfie mode to view the eclipse **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220 "2017-08-20T22:07:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/1 "2017-08-20T22:07:51Z")
I couldn’t find a pair of eclipse glasses, everyone was sold out. I just saw a comment mentioning how if you use your cell phone, put it in selfie mode and face the forward facing camera towards the eclipse, you can watch it on your screen. I assume this is safe, since you are watching your phone screen and not the sun (and the phone doesn’t put out dangerous levels of light). Anything wrong with this idea? What about light reflecting off the screen? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/2 "2017-08-20T22:11:46Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I couldn’t find a pair of eclipse glasses, everyone was sold out. > > I just saw a comment mentioning how if you use your cell phone, put it in selfie mode and face the forward facing camera towards the eclipse, you can watch it on your screen. > > I assume this is safe, since you are watching your phone screen and not the sun (and the phone doesn’t put out dangerous levels of light). > > Anything wrong with this idea? What about light reflecting off the screen? The better question would be whether or not the sun would burn out the photoreceptors of the phone’s camera. ---
**Author:** ![busterpickle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@busterpickle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/busterpickle)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/3 "2017-08-20T22:22:58Z")
Burn out… possibly as you’ll be pointing the camera at the sun for an unusually long period of time. Normally when someone does that they stop as the sensor “blooms” causing it to just have a white image. But, you’ll be training the phone on the sun to see the eclipse so it’ll be for a few minutes at least. I’d say there is a possibility of some damage due to heat, the IR filter won’t do much to mitigate that, and you have a lens as well so it will gather and focus that light onto the sensor. One would have to do a google scholar search for CMOS damage due to prolonged exposure to the sun or light sources which have a strong IR component to them. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/4 "2017-08-20T23:03:30Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > The better question would be whether or not the sun would burn out the photoreceptors of the phone’s camera. Exactly. And if it doesn’t damage them, will the image be just a blur such that you’re not seeing anything of interest. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/5 "2017-08-20T23:31:34Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > The better question would be whether or not the sun would burn out the photoreceptors of the phone’s camera. Hadn’t thought of that. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/6 "2017-08-20T23:35:16Z")
Sorry; you need a filter (aka “eclipse glasses” or arc-welding shades) in front of the lens, or you won’t see anything and will probably fry the sensors to boot. In a pinch you could use a CD or two (test it on an incandescent light bulb first to make sure the filament is only barely visible) or construct a pinhole camera. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/7 "2017-08-21T00:10:57Z")
Are you in the path of totality? You don’t need glasses during totality. Aside from possible phone damage (just borrow someone else’s phone!), have you ever taken a photo of the full moon with a phone? The full moon is only slightly smaller than the sun so around the middle of the eclipse, what you see on your phone will be a lot like a moon photo. What you see before and after that will probably damage your phone. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/8 "2017-08-21T00:29:05Z")
[Here’s what NASA says.](https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/can-i-photograph-eclipse-my-smartphone) > [@](#): > > The short answer is a definite ‘yes!’, but of course you have to be careful that you minimize glimpsing the bright sun with your eyes without the benefit of a proper filter. As for your camera, there is no valid reason why you would want to point your smartphone camera at the brilliant, un-eclipsed sun without putting a filter over the lens. During totality, you do not need the filter, of course! [And another opinion.](http://time.com/4891773/solar-eclipse-how-to-photograph-phone/) > [@](#): > > Just hold a pair of eclipse glasses over the phone’s camera and then point it at the sun to snap a photo, says Symes, who has used this technique in the past. Without the glasses, the sun will be too bright for the phone’s camera to handle, resulting in an overexposed image. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/9 "2017-08-21T01:34:23Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > [Here’s what NASA says.](https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/can-i-photograph-eclipse-my-smartphone) > > [And another opinion.](http://time.com/4891773/solar-eclipse-how-to-photograph-phone/) Even at that, you still will fight your phone’s auto-exposure metering. I taped a pair of eclipse shades to my phone and tried to take a picture of the sun today. Still came out looking like a sun, while if I put the glasses on, the sun’s a not-too-bright orange circle, which tells me that the phone was lengthening the exposure and raising the ISO to try and compensate for the otherwise extremely dark photo. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/10 "2017-08-21T01:49:46Z")
Remember though, the sun is very small. And phones typically have wide-angle lenses. The image will be _tiny_. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/11 "2017-08-21T02:08:13Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Remember though, the sun is very small. And phones typically have wide-angle lenses. The image will be _tiny_. I still have pictures of the 1970 total eclipse that I took with my trusty Kodak instamatic. You can kind of tell the tiny dot is an eclipse if you already know. Back in those days they handed out cards with pin-holes to made a crude pin-hole camera. It actually works pretty well. Remember to turn your flash off. If you take a picture before the eclipse, it’s just the sun. It will be dark during the show but the flash will not help. I still remember all the flash bulbs going off and the people with real cameras and telescopes freaking out about it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/12 "2017-08-21T02:20:29Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Remember though, the sun is very small. And phones typically have wide-angle lenses. The image will be _tiny_. Yep. Just try taking a pic of a killer moon rise or moonset with your phone camera sometime. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/13 "2017-08-21T15:55:28Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Remember though, the sun is very small. And phones typically have wide-angle lenses. The image will be _tiny_. Yesterday through the eclipse specs the sun was actually larger than I expected, which makes sense, considering it’s going to be moon-sized (to our eyes). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/14 "2017-08-21T18:07:21Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > In a pinch you could use a CD or two (test it on an incandescent light bulb first to make sure the filament is only barely visible) or construct a pinhole camera. My gf was in Iceland a few years ago during an eclipse. Her cabdriver was watching the time and pulled over, stopping the meter, so he and his passengers could get out and see. He pulled over in front of a bar, at 8 am. Ten or so people stumbled out of the bar, each holding a CD. One of the best pictures from her trip to Iceland was of ten drunks holding up CDs, looking skyward. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/15 "2017-08-21T18:59:35Z")
Tom Scott actually has [a video](https://youtu.be/M8HRP-iqHRE?t=4m41s) where he used a cheap camera (a go-pro) inside the world’s largest artificial sun–which they use to test the sun’s effect on things. It actually gets a few hundred times brighter than the sun as it appears on Earth. (The whole array gets even brighter, 10,000 times the sun but he didn’t use the whole array.) When he did this, not only did the light not bother the camera at all, but it actually was able to automatically adjust, and it doesn’t look bright at all! He even tries to cheat with overexposure, but it doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/16 "2017-08-21T19:09:58Z")
I took an old cell phone and used the non-selfie camera to take video skyward. The sun itself is completely blown out (even at 67% coverage), but there are afterimages/reflections of the eclipsed sun in the video, so you get a neat effect. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/17 "2017-08-21T19:26:29Z")
I just took about two dozen pictures of the eclipse with my phone with no apparent ill effects. Most were in selfie mode and about a half dozen in normal mode. They do turn out like shit, but in all of them somehow there’s a little bluish “ghost” image of the actual eclipse, complete with the crescent and everything. ETA: Yeah, like **aktep** says. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-use-your-phone-in-selfie-mode-to-view-the-eclipse/794220/18 "2017-08-22T01:50:23Z")
Took this in Northwest Arkansas. Selfie with me cropped out. [[Album] Eclipse ![](https://i.imgur.com/tiJMQZk.jpeg?fb "Eclipse") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/5dZ60)