Is a total solar eclipse harmful to the eyes? If so, how much damage?

**Total solar eclipse, first of all, pay attention to one thing: never look directly at the sun with the naked eye or any optical device (such as a telescope, etc.)! This is not just a suggestion, but a very serious warning.

If you use direct observation with the naked eye, the sun's rays will not only make it impossible for you to observe at all, but will even burn your eyes. When using optical equipment, because the magnifying glass in the optical equipment focuses the sunlight at a very small point, the energy of this point is considerable, which may damage the observer's retina, and even cause blindness in both eyes. The retina does not feel pain, so it is especially important to note that you will not notice it even if it burns out.

When observing, it is best to use eclipse glasses that filter out dangerous light. Observe for about 3 minutes and let your eyes rest, which is safer.

During the whole process of a total solar eclipse, there are some periods when you cannot see directly with your eyes, otherwise it will cause permanent vision loss and even blindness. Although the following methods are widely circulated, they are not scientific and may cause damage to the eyes:

Sunglasses: This is the most dangerous way to observe a total solar eclipse, and direct observation of a total solar eclipse with sunglasses can harm the eyes.

Candle blackened glass: Due to the uneven degree of blackening and the thickness of the glass sheet, the safety of observation cannot be fully guaranteed.

**Negatives: Negatives** are not the same, and the safety of observation cannot be completely guaranteed.

Recommended tool: Eclipse glasses. After wearing solar eclipse glasses, you will not be able to see clearly except the sun. At the same time, the use of eclipse glasses with other optical devices, such as telescopes and cameras, will not be prohibited.

What else can be done other than professional sighting scopes? Take advantage of the principle of aperture imaging to enjoy the eclipse. The easiest way to do this is to cross your fingers and let the sunlight leak through the small holes between your fingers, which will form an image of a solar eclipse on rough ground - remember not to be on smooth ground, otherwise strong reflections will still hurt your eyes.

Of course, it is also a good idea to use a board with pinholes to project a solar eclipse on a background with an unpolished surface.

If you need to take a photo, you can only take it within 4 to 5 minutes of the total solar eclipse if you don't have a light-reducing device such as a filter, otherwise the camera may burn out.

Direct retinal burns can be caused!!

It's the reason why most people don't look at the sun...

I can dry flowers...

You have to use a special shading device or use 4 sheets of film to stack them up...

Direct** may result in permanent loss of vision, severe or even blindness. A photolens or membrane should be used, and the continuous view should not exceed 10 minutes.

This is because during the total solar eclipse, the overall environment becomes darker, relatively, the ultraviolet and infrared rays of the sun will become stronger, because the human eye tends to glow objects, it is easy to attract people's eyes, when observing the total solar eclipse, you should choose a sunny area as much as possible, and pay attention to the safety of the eyes. Because sunlight is a million times stronger than moonlight, it cannot be directly ** with the naked eye or through a telescope without light-reducing equipment, otherwise it is easy to cause retinal damage and even blindness.

The reason why a total solar eclipse hurts the eyes, the sunlight is too strong, it will damage the macula of the eyes, and this damage is irreversible.

During a solar eclipse, we will always stare at the sun, but usually not, the key is to look at the length of the sun. Even in normal times, staring at the sun for a few minutes will impair. During a solar eclipse, there will be a light drop, which is illuminated by strong light for a period of time, that is, the ultraviolet rays are higher than normal, and high-intensity ultraviolet rays can blind people.

Carson Klemp Shutterstock) Portlander suffered permanent eye damage from looking at the sun during a 1963 solar eclipse, and now he warns others not to make the same mistake during a total solar eclipse on Monday.

Luis Tomosowski, 70, said he was 16 at the time of the partial solar eclipse at a high school baseball field in Portland, Oregon, without any eye protection, according to Fox-owned KPTV. He closed his left eye and looked at it with his right eye for about 20 seconds.

That's all," Tomosovski told KPTV. He now has a small blind spot in his right eye** that has not improved or worsened since 1963.

Tomosowski said he feared that if others did not take precautions during the solar eclipse on Monday, August 21, they could experience similar consequences, which would be visible throughout the United States. [Has anyone gone blind from watching a solar eclipse?] ]

Thousands of people will look at it....How many of them will say, 'What's wrong with my eyes?' In an interview with NBC's "Today Show," Tomosovski said that Tomososki's condition is known as solar retinopathy, which means that looking directly at the sun causes damage to the retina of the eye. This damage occurs because the lens of your eye focuses the sun's rays on a point at the back of the eye.

If you take a lens with that much energy and point it directly at the sun, the energy becomes very high," which is enough to burn a hole in the retina, Dr. Russell Van Gelder, a clinical spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and director of the University of Washington Institute of Medical Ophthalmology in Seattle, said in an interview with the journal Field Science in July. Therefore, according to AAO, patients with actinic retinopathy may have blurred vision or have a central blind spot in the eye.

Patients with solar retinopathy exhibit a very typical pattern of ocular damage during the exam, "It looks as if someone has made a hole and punched out the photoreceptor cells in the retina," Van Gaelde said.

In fact, Tomosowski said his doctors could often tell that he had once looked directly at the sun.

Every time we go to an ophthalmologist now for a check-up, they dilate your eyes and look in, "The first thing they say is that you saw a solar eclipse at some point in your life," he said, adding that if you plan to see an eclipse on a Monday, you need to use special "eclipse glasses" or a handheld solar observatory fitted with a solar filter so you don't damage your eyes, and according to the American Astronomical Society, remember: look directly at the sun, even if it's partially covered by the moon, It can also cause severe eye damage or blindness. Never watch a partial solar eclipse without proper eye protection.

Our sister site space has a complete guide on how to view Eclipse safely.

Originally published on Live Science.

You can't look directly at a solar eclipse with the naked eye, and the most important thing to observe an annular solar eclipse is to protect your eyes. Although a solar eclipse is either partially obscured by the sun, the sunlight is not very harsh.

However, the light emitted by the sun area of 1 is brighter than that of electric welding. If you look directly at the sun for a long time, it will cause the macular of the retina to be burned, resulting in "solar retinitis", burns, and the macula can never be recovered.