I've always known it's a pretty bad idea to stare at the sun, but it wasn't until I started researching the eclipse that I discovered *how* bad of an idea it is. We all know that you can "burn your retinas", which, yeah, sounds pretty terrible, but I thought that this was more of a metaphorical "ohhh-this-menthol-patch-kinda-burns" kind of thing, more like a fluff local late night news warning, "common household item can kill your dog, news at 11".
In fact, if anything, it is much worse....
Let me explain using a story we will all be familiar with....
That is *exactly* what would happen in your eyeball. *precisely*, *literally*
Sorry to be so graphic, but you would literally cook your retina, and boil that fluidy stuff inside your eyeball whose name nobody knows.
This is pretty serious stuff. Using a lens, you can ignite foliage. You can start a fire using dollar store reading glasses. This guy starts a fire with nothing other than the concave reflective bottom of a pepsi can. Here is a case where a telescope pointed in the wrong direction may have burned down part of a house.
This guy thought it would be funny to hold a magnifying glass over his buddy. His buddy didn't agree.
And it is even worse than that. Your retina doesn't have any pain receptors in it (why would it?), so you don't actually have any sensation to warn you of what is happening. In fact, according to this guy, if anything, the discomfort of looking at a bright object decreases as you partially blind yourself. And unlike your skin after sunburn, the retina will never heal.
On the bright side, if you ever find yourself alone and afraid on a deserted island with just a pair of reading glasses and a can of beer, you now know how to start a fire or boil some water.... You're welcome.
One last note: Every last bit of this warning is applicable to cameras also. Remember this if you decide to film the whole eclipse using your iPhone.
(No ants were harmed in the writing of this post.)
In fact, if anything, it is much worse....
Let me explain using a story we will all be familiar with....
Bad child holds magnifying glass over ant. Sun beams focus on ant. Ant incinerates.
That is *exactly* what would happen in your eyeball. *precisely*, *literally*
The lens of your eyeball is a small magnifying glass, evolved to focus light beams precisely to a point in the middle of your retina. Point this tiny magnifying glass towards the sun, and you incinerate what is behind it. Let's rewrite the above story as
Clueless human holds eyeball-lens over delicate rods and cones. Sun beams focus on rods and cones. Rods and cones melt.
Sorry to be so graphic, but you would literally cook your retina, and boil that fluidy stuff inside your eyeball whose name nobody knows.
This is pretty serious stuff. Using a lens, you can ignite foliage. You can start a fire using dollar store reading glasses. This guy starts a fire with nothing other than the concave reflective bottom of a pepsi can. Here is a case where a telescope pointed in the wrong direction may have burned down part of a house.
And it is even worse than that. Your retina doesn't have any pain receptors in it (why would it?), so you don't actually have any sensation to warn you of what is happening. In fact, according to this guy, if anything, the discomfort of looking at a bright object decreases as you partially blind yourself. And unlike your skin after sunburn, the retina will never heal.
One last note: Every last bit of this warning is applicable to cameras also. Remember this if you decide to film the whole eclipse using your iPhone.
(No ants were harmed in the writing of this post.)
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