A solar eclipse can cook your eyes
What happens to our eyes when we see towards the sun?
The light receptors at the back of the eye and what we call the retina, have these structures that absorb the light and turn it into an electrical signal that goes to the brain. When you have got a very very bright light source like the sun. There's so much of this light energy pouring in there, that it overwhelms the mechanisms that are converting that light. This in turn causes a nasty chemical reaction in your eye. What light your photoreceptors can't handle goes on to hit a layer in the back of your eye that absorbs that light and turns it into heat.
It can actually raise the temperature so that at the cellular level you're actually getting a generation of steam inside the cell which literally cooks it from the inside.
Stare at the sun long enough and your eyes are in trouble. So is looking at an eclipse any worse? No. The sun is no brighter or stronger and it's certainly not easier to look at. Same sun Same effect...The only difference is that we want to stare at the sun because a solar eclipse is amazing, so our willpower overcomes the natural urge to look away and that's when we run into problems.
But there is one time and one time only when it's safe to look directly at a solar eclipse when this happens
TOTALITY
When the moon completely covers the sun and only the corona is visible. For this brief time day becomes time and it's safe to directly look at it. In fact, it gets so dark during totality that animals become confused and start their nightmare routine. But totality doesn't last long and you have to be in a specific location to see it all.
Even if you're wearing eclipse glasses, it's still a bad idea. The solar lens burned when a doctor held up a pair to his unfiltered telescope, the solar lens burned in seconds now imagine an eyeball there, even the darkest sunglasses have nothing on proper eclipse glasses. They filter 10,000 times more light than the darkest pair of shades you can buy. There is no way that you can look at the sun with a pair of sunglasses and be safe.
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| Eclipse eye damage: "Solar Retinopathy" has no diagnosis |
So, here's is a safe way to check out a solar eclipse for a direct view get yourself a pair of stylish eclipse glasses they should only set you back a few dollars but make sure they are legit. You can find them at the science store or your local astronomical group.
"Make sure you look for International Standards Number but be warned some counterfeiters are using this number as well."
For an indirect view you can make an easy pinhole projector with supplies you likely have kicking around the house and of course you can watch glasses free on tv or online. Wherever you watch or however you watch remember never ever look directly at the sun no matter how tempted you may be because while a solar eclipse certainly is beautiful it's just not worth your eyesight.
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