MODEL RELEASED. Eclipse viewing. Young boy watching a total solar eclipse. A reflection of the eclipse can be seen in the lenses of his glasses. The Sun should not be viewed through normal dark glasses as the eye can easily be damaged. Special lenses are used which filter out much of the harmful radiation. Solar eclipses occur when the Moon passes in front of the Sun as seen from Earth. As the Moon appears almost exactly the same size as the Sun from Earth, the whole solar disc is blocked out in most eclipses. This allows the fine structure of the hot solar corona (white) to be seen.