NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN
Partial Solar Eclipse: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Eyes
Less than 24 hours to go before the partial eclipse of the Sun here in the North East England.
But just a reminder – NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN
It’s really tempting, but it can cause permanent vision loss.
It’s always dangerous to look at the sun for any length of time, but generally when the sun is really bright you tend to look away before it can cause damage. During an eclipse, as the moon blocks the brightness it’s easier to stare at the sun. But the moon only blocks the brightness, it doesn’t stop the dangerous high energy rays, and this is what can damage the eye.
It is the retina that gets damaged. This is the light sensitive film at the back of the eye. It has no pain receptors, so it’s not possible to ‘feel’ the damage happening. Damage can happen after only a few moments of exposure. Symptoms don’t start straight away and can start after a few hours or even days.
Following the 1999 solar eclipse there were 70 cases of eclipse-related vision loss in the UK.
How to view the sun safely
The safest way to view the eclipse is to project an image of the sun onto the ground. This means you never look directly at the sun. This is really easy to do using a card and a sheet of paper.
Place the sheet of paper on the ground. Make a circular hole in a piece of card (about 3mm.) Line up the card so it is facing the sun and it is casting a shadow onto the sheet of paper. You can focus the thin beam of sunlight in the centre of the shadow. This is a projection of an image of the sun and you will be able to see the eclipse.
You can use specialist filters or Eclipse glasses to view the sun. Be careful these are bought from reputable source and have no scratches. All filters should display the standard ISO 12312-2, this is regulation for safe solar viewing. As a double-check, if you use the eclipse filter to view a bright light bulb you should see nothing. Only the sun should be visible through genuine eclipse glasses.
Sunglasses will not protect your eyes, no matter how dark they are. It needs to be a specialist filter. Never look at the Sun through binoculars, telescopes or cameras.
Enjoy the eclipse safely! If anyone has any concerns then please let us know.
