Eclipse enthusiasts flocked to Austin and other cities Monday to see the total solar eclipse and, hopefully, brought the proper eye protection with them.
Looking at the sun during an eclipse without safe viewing glasses can cause permanent eye damage, called eclipse blindness. If after witnessing Monday's phenomenon you experience blurry or distorted vision, you may have suffered eye damage.
Here's what to know about eclipse blindness and what symptoms to look for.
Looking at the sun during an eclipse without protection can permanently damage your eyes
Even a short glance at the sun without proper protection can cause temporary or permanent damage to your eyes. Sunglasses aren't enough, you need ISO-certified solar eclipse glasses, which block about 1,000 times more sunlight.
How do I know if I damaged my eyes during the April eclipse? What are the symptoms of eclipse blindness?
The retinas of your eyes have no nerve endings so even if they are damaged, you may not feel any pain. But according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, if you experience any of these symptoms a few hours or even days after the eclipse, you should go see your ophthalmologist.
- Blurry vision
- Headache and/or eye pain
- Vision loss or a black spot at the center of a patient’s sight in one or both eyes
- Increased sensitivity to light
- Distorted vision (a straight line may look bent or curvy)
- Changes in the way you see color, known as "dyschromatopsia"
How long can I look at the sun if I'm using eclipse glasses?
According to the American Astronomical Society (AAS), while some glasses and viewers include warnings about looking through them at the sun for more than 3 minutes at a time, as long as your glasses are compliant with the ISO 12312-2 safety standard and are undamaged, "you may look at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed Sun through them for as long as you wish."
What does looking at the sun do to your eyes?
Ever started a fire by using a magnifying glass to focus sunlight onto a point?
The lens of your eye does essentially the same thing when it focuses the light you see onto the retinas at the back of your eye, theAmerican Academy of Ophthalmologyexplained. The retina is the light-detecting part of your eye that transmits those signals to the brain. Direct, intense light can burn a hole in them or destroy retinal cells almost immediately.
Normally it hurts to look at the sun and humans naturally squint or look away. Even a few seconds can be too much. But during an eclipse, the visible sunlight is reduced and it becomes possible to look directly at it without discomfort for longer periods of time. You may not even know you've damaged your eyes until the next day.
The result is solar retinopathy or retinal burns. It can happen from looking at the sun or at too-bright reflections of sunlight off snow or water. The most common cause of solar retinopathy is viewing a solar eclipse, also called eclipse blindness.
It's rare, but it can be permanent. The2017 eclipse, which passed from Oregon to South Carolina, is thought to have caused about 100 cases, according to theAmerican Astronomical Society, out of the estimated 150 million people who witnessed it. But since solar retinopathy doesn't cause complete blindness, many people with minor cases may have never reported it or even known they had it.
How long will damage from looking at an eclipse last?
Researchers have found that some patients "may see symptoms ease over time," according to David Hutton for Ophthalmology Times. The cones in the retina are resilient and resist damage, experts say.
In a 1976 study, some patients saw their symptoms clear over time and researchers found that some cases saw an "excellent recovery" in the first three months.
However, others have suffered permanent damage resulting in impaired vision in the form of a small blind spot in one or both eyes and distortion.
Is damage from looking at a solar eclipse treatable?
No. There is no treatment.
You should have an ophthalmologist scan your eyes to see how much damage has been done and they can monitor them over the next few months to chart any recovery, but the only thing you can do is wait and hope for it to go away.
And avoid looking at the sun.
After the eclipse, we'll have posters and framed prints from Statesman photojournalists available atusatodaystore.com.
