Astral Eyestrain

Those who routinely scan the catalogues of Brookstone or Eddie Bauer for unusual, upscale gadgetry will find an item geared to catch--and aid--their eyes in spotting Halley’s comet.

It’s a pair of a specially treated sunglasses that are a shade out of the ordinary--they specifically screen out daylight rays that can diminish night vision.

The glasses are made by Alpha Basics, a 23-year-old Burbank company that makes optical coatings and supplies special eyewear to scientists at NASA, Cal Tech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Alpha Basics has a patent pending on the tint that coats the lenses of the glasses and protects the eyes from from “blue” light, a spectrum of light rays that can temporarily impair the quality of vision in the dark.

The company says that a person’s eyes typically need from three to six hours “to recover from the effects of sunlight.” That means that many of the millions of people who plan to spot the comet on its trip through the skies over the next several months “are going to be disappointed,” the company says.

“The comet will be out there,” says Joseph E. Berg, founder and president of Alpha Basics. “But many people’s eyes won’t have adjusted from that day’s sunlight.”

Alpha Basics, which has annual sales of about $500,000, has been selling products with the special tint for five years, but they have only been available to the the general public through mail-order catalogues for about a year.

Despite a price tag that may send some people into orbit--$60 a pair--the glasses have been selling well, the company says. Alpha Basics says they’ll soon be available in the walk-in retail outlets of Brookstone, Eddie Bauer and other specialty stores.