ECLIPSE EYE SAFETY
How do you keep your eyes safe in an eclipse?
Viewing any part of the sun directly, or even through a camera lens (including your phone), binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter will instantly cause severe eye injury according to NASA. The only way to safely look at the sun during an eclipse is with solar eclipse glasses. The glasses are made with filters that conform to a worldwide safety standard, according to NASA. Solar eclipse glasses are made of either black polymer or silvery mylar that blocks 100% of infrared and ultraviolet light, according to WebMD. Ever used a magnifying glass to start a fire by focusing the sun’s light onto a piece of paper? The sun does the same thing to your retina, the American Academy of Ophthalmology explained.
What happens if you look at the sun?
The sun emits so much light it can seriously damage your eyes. Since we normally have an aversion of staring directly at the sun, that’s normally not a problem. However, during an eclipse, “it’s possible to look directly at the sun without feeling any discomfort.” It isn’t until the next day that you may discover you’ve damaged your eyes, which is known as solar — or eclipse — retinopathy.
● Blurry vision
● Headache
● A blind spot in your central vision in one or both eyes
● Increased sensitivity to light
● Distortion of shapes. For example, a straight line looks bent or a door jamb looks curved
● Changes in the way you see color
Is it safe to make your own eclipse glasses?
The short answer is no if you plan to use household items to make a pair of glasses. The materials used in specialized solar eclipse glasses are specifically designed to filter out harmful rays, a feature that household items may not provide, according to Dr. Ralph Chou, the world’s leading expert on eclipse eye safety, who wrote the ISO standard for eclipse glasses. In an interview with NASA, Chou says, “Don’t try to save a penny and risk your eyesight.”
What about sunglasses?
That’s another no, according to Dr. Hin Cheung, a clinical assistant professor at the Indiana University School of Optometry. “Sunglasses, regardless of how dark they appear, or how many pairs of them you wear, will not reach this level of protection and therefore are NOT safe for viewing the sun or the eclipse directly,” Dr. Cheung said in a university press release. Here’s a list of improper eye protection:
● Sunglasses
● Smoked glass
● Photo film negatives
● X-ray film
● Polarizing filters
● Neutral density filters
● Damaged eclipse viewers
What can you do without eclipse glasses?
NASA recommends an indirect method like a pinhole projector, a small aperture, like a hole punched in an index card, which projects an image of the sun onto a nearby surface. Make sure the sun is behind you so you can safely observe the projected image, and never look at the Sun through the pinhole.
More eye safety tips from NASA
● View the sun through eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer during the partial eclipse phases before and after totality.
● You can view the eclipse directly without proper eye protection only when the moon completely obscures the sun’s bright face — during the brief and spectacular period known as totality. (You’ll know it’s safe when you can no longer see any part of the sun through eclipse glasses or a solar viewer.)
● As soon as you see even a little bit of the bright sun reappear after totality, immediately put your eclipse glasses back on or use a handheld solar viewer to look at the sun.