Sure, it’s only a once-in-a-generation event, but does Monday’s total eclipse of the sun also have to be a total eclipse of fashion?
Picture it: There you are, dressed up for the celestial celebration, a moment of cosmic transcendence that shivers into your central nervous system and teaches you that the very same dust that makes the stars and the planets also makes you, standing wherever you are at that moment, like every single other person on Earth both in and of the universe … and what tops the wardrobe? A pair of goofy eclipse glasses. Like, do you even need to wear those stupid things?
Uh, yes.
Definitely.
Seriously, wear eclipse glasses.
Here’s why: Staring into the sun, even the mostly obscured sun, can literally burn your eyeballs. Doctors say this can happen in just a few seconds. And it’s possible that the damage can be permanent, causing lasting blind spots.
If you’re lucky, the burn would only be to the front part of your eye — a condition called solar keratitis that is akin to a sunburn. It is incredibly painful. But it also heals.
“It doesn’t matter how long you look at it,” said Dr. Linda Chous, the chief eye care officer for the Minnesota-based insurer UnitedHealthcare. “Even a few seconds can cause this to occur.”
But the bigger danger is damage to the back of the eye, the part known as the retina.
Chous offers this analogy: Remember as a kid when you would take a magnifying glass or a pair of glasses and concentrate the sun’s rays to burn ants on the sidewalk? Well, the eye also has a lens that focuses light, and too much energy can permanently scar the retina.
In , Dr. Paula E. Pecen, a retinal surgeon, describes seeing “crescent-shaped burns” in the back of patients’ eyes caused by staring at the sun.
“Sometimes, these burns fade over time,” she writes. “But the damage can leave people with permanent blind spots.”
This can occur even when looking up at partial eclipses. In Denver, smart science people say the eclipse .
Doesn’t matter, Chous said.
“Because there’s that little sliver that’s there, damage can still occur,” she said.
Eye damage during an eclipse is so common there’s even a scientific name for it: eclipse retinopathy. A search of the government’s database of medical articles, PubMed, a flurry of case studies on the subject following an eclipse in 2015.
And, lest you think staring into the sun is something only dumb kids do, in Germany looked at seven different patients with eclipse-related eye damage. Their average age? 30.
Regular sunglasses don’t block enough light to protect from sustained blasts of direct sunlight. Even some welding goggles .
So, if you’re going to watch the eclipse, you’re going to need eclipse glasses. But therein lies a whole new world of troubles.
First, you can’t use them to look at the eclipse through telescopes, binoculars or cameras because those devices’ lenses could concentrate the sun’s rays and damage the glasses’ filter.
Second, you have to make sure they’re legit.
Amazon this week it wasn’t sure would actually protect people’s eyes from damage. Craigslist profiteers . Fakes abound.
So, fake or not? glasses from with ISO cert, no maker and "ENJOY THE SUNSHY" typo?
— Tamara Chuang (@Gadgetress)
NASA and the American Astronomical Society glasses that have ISO 12312-2 — a code for the international safety standard with which they comply — printed on them. The AAS has for safe specs but also notes it may be too late to buy them now.
And therein lies another trouble. Eclipse glasses have become the hottest accessory of August 2017.
Denver Public Library . The Denver Museum of Nature and Science at 9:29 a.m. Wednesday that it was out of glasses, announced at 9:41 a.m. that it had obtained some more and then announced at 9:57 a.m. that it was out for good. There might still be some .
If you can’t find glasses, you’ll have to resort to the old method. But, whatever you do, Chous said, don’t try to risk it and sneak a long glance at the sun with your naked eyes. They may be made of , but they aren’t made to be star tough.
“Our eyes are way too important,” Chous said.
