Caution urged as solar eclipse nears Experts warn of risks to eyes from looking at sun; school cancels classes.
You don’t want to miss the eclipse. But you also don’t want to look too closely.
As enthusiasm builds for the first total solar eclipse in more
than 100 years on Monday, local eye doctors are warning residents in the Dayton area to avoid direct eye contact with the eclipse or risk permanent retina damage.
The eclipse will begin shortly after 1 p.m. Monday and it will take almost three hours to cross the face of the sun from one side to the other. The path, where the moon will completely cover the sun and the corona or halo can be seen, will stretch from Oregon to South Carolina — and the last coast-to-coast total solar eclipse to cross the U.S. was in 1918.
The solar eclipse will have a 70-mile-wide path that will have a brief total eclipse, during which there will be a maybe one-minute window where it’s safe to look, but Ohio is not on that path.
Staring at the sun is always risky, but outside of an eclipse event, people typically aren’t looking at the sky and risking damage staring at the sun, said Dr. Amina Husain, with Premier Eye Surgeons.
Even with protective glasses, she said it’s not recommended you
look too long at the eclipse.
“You can theoretically burn your retina and potentially go blind and that’s a big complication,” said Husain.
Some people told this news organization they are worried about going outside during the eclipse. In fact, Dayton Christian officials announced Wednesday that they will close the school Monday because of safety concerns surrounding the solar eclipse.
“They keep telling us not to worry, but I’m still a little reluctant to go outside to look at it even with the glasses I got for the occasion,” said Shirley Bronson of Beavercreek.
Dayton Christian officials said they had purchased protective eyewear for all students but later learned the viewers were among many that have been recalled as unsafe.
“The solar eclipse is a spectacular phenomenon, but one that can be extremely dangerous to those who watch it without protective eyewear,” said Head of School John Gredy. “After much deliberation and discussion of our options, our leadership team decided the use of a calamity day was the wisest decision for the safety of our student body.”
John Weimer, vice president of emergency and trauma services with Kettering Health Network, said the network’s 10 emergency rooms are prepared to assess the severity of any eye injuries that happen during the event and also refer patients to their ophthalmologists in the network.
Weimer said the ERs can treat injuries like irritation or can administer pain relief but if there appears to be long term damage, their ophthalmologists can also see the patients. In general, he said the ER network always prepares for an influx of patients when there’s a major event or large public gathering.
“Particularly with the solar eclipse, it’s been a fair amount of times since we’ve had something like this,” he said.
Dr. Barry Gridley, who practices at Eye Care Locale in downtown Dayton and Wing Eyecare at Austin Landing, said even on a regular day, he still sometimes sees patients with damage from looking right at the sun.
“Your retina is protein and heat fries protein, and there’s nothing we can do to restore it,” Gridley said.
In some parts of the country, viewers can briefly look directly at the eclipse for about a minute while the moon crosses the sun. But Ohio is not part of that area, and there won’t be a time to look safely up in the state.
As an alternative, if you were lucky enough to find NASA-approved eclipse viewing glasses in stock, you can wear them to watch the show. A pinhole viewer can also fill in as a low-tech way to see what’s happening. And there’s always NASA’s livestream of the eclipse available for free online.
‘Your retina is protein and heat fries protein.’ Dr. Barry Gridley area ophthalmologist
Contact this reporter at Kaitlin.Schroeder@coxinc. com. Reporters Kara Driscoll and Jeremy Kelley contributed to this story.