On Monday, April 8, a solar eclipse swept across the continental United States. Millions of people flocked outside to catch a glimpse of the moon passing between the Earth and the sun, which can cause eye damage without the proper protection.
Looking at the sun on any normal day is enough to make your eyes hurt. The rare cosmic phenomenon made it especially tempting to gaze into the star at the heart of our solar system.
There are several different ways to safely view an eclipse, from wearing eclipse glasses to using special solar filters on binoculars or telescopes, per the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).
There are also several unsafe ways to view a solar eclipse — including with looking with your bare eyes, wearing normal sunglasses, or looking through an unfiltered camera lens.
Those who failed to use safe viewing methods may be wondering if looking at the once-in-a-lifetime solar event damaged their eyes.
Google searches for “hurt eyes” spiked Monday afternoon, shortly after many people experienced the eclipse, NBC News previously reported.
Why does the solar eclipse hurt your eyes?
According to the AAO, there is no safe time to look at the sun with the naked eye, and you must protect your eyes while watching the entire eclipse.
“Many people don’t realize they can get hurt by staring directly at the sun without the proper protection,” Dr. Russell N. Van Gelder, professor of ophthalmology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, previously told TODAY.com.
The danger of permanent damage and vision loss is very real, Van Gelder added. The lens of the eye is like a powerful magnifying glass. Staring at the sun can focus all the energy from the light onto the retina, the light-sensitive tissue in the back of the eye, per the Cleveland Clinic. This can cause a burn or a hole in the vision.
It can only take a matter of seconds for the sun’s ultraviolet rays to damage the retina, which is known as solar retinopathy.
Complaints of eye issues…
Read the full article here
