Post-eclipse complaining
Aug. 22nd, 2017 01:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conulySo, prior to the eclipse there were FAQs and news reports about people who didn't want to go out on the day of the eclipse - even before it started! - for fear that they'd go blind, or didn't want to walk their dog because the dog might go blind (not knowing not to look at the sky on eclipse day, of course) or not letting the kids out at all during recess because, you got it, they might freeze in place, stare at the sun, and go blind.
And then Trump looked at the sun without glasses. And everybody is throwing fits about what an idiot he is. I commented on one article that no, it's not likely you'll go blind if you just glance at the sun for a second*, and one person replied "but this isn't the sun, it's the eclipse!" like that's a winning argument. I mentioned to another, who claimed you couldn't see anything without the glasses until totality anyway that I'd been staring at the cloud cover impatiently before the peak, and when the clouds parted I'd gotten an unprotected glimpse of the sun and yes, I could see the bite of it - and that person went "Well, you do permanent damage at 20 seconds, so you might've been lucky". How long do they imagine it takes to see the sun when the clouds break and then look down again?
I think I've figured this out.
The rule is "You should not stare at the sun, even during an eclipse". This is a sensible rule that nobody has ever needed to tell anybody over the age of, say, six weeks. We don't stare at the sun. Even infants know better - if the sun shines in your eyes, you squint, put your hand up, and turn away. Aniamls are even smarter! No matter what happens, they don't need to be told.
But humans think we're cleverer than animals, and during an eclipse we sometimes break that rule and look at the sun because it's cool. And because the light seems dimmer, we can look longer. But it's not really dimmer - it's just as bright, it's just that some of it is blocked. So for the past year, we've had it drummed into our heads that you shouldn't look at the eclipse without glasses. Consequently, many people have internalized the rule as "You shouldn't stare at the sun, especially during an eclipse". But the sun isn't any more dangerous then. It's only our behavior that changes!
If you look for up to five seconds, you're probably fine, just like when you turn a corner and find yourself driving toward the sun. (Or look up at a flock of birds just as the clouds part and find the sun glaring in your eyes, or wake up with the sun in your eyes.) According to the only study on the subject, you're not likely to have visible damage unless you look for 15 seconds or longer... and even then, most patients improved with time.
So don't stare at the sun, but if you did catch a glimpse, whether on purpose or not, it's probably no more harmful than when you catch a glimpse of the sun on regular days.
(As for Trump, this was a dumb move, but not because of the potential eye damage. It was a dumb move because everybody and their dog, literally, knows better but he still did it on national TV. Doofus. And if he's getting any flak from it he probably blames the aide for calling attention to his behavior rather than his own foolish decision to do something everybody knows, from the very day they're born, not to do.)
* Turns out it was more like 30 seconds in his case, which is really way too long. Not that I give a fuck what that person does to his eyes.
And then Trump looked at the sun without glasses. And everybody is throwing fits about what an idiot he is. I commented on one article that no, it's not likely you'll go blind if you just glance at the sun for a second*, and one person replied "but this isn't the sun, it's the eclipse!" like that's a winning argument. I mentioned to another, who claimed you couldn't see anything without the glasses until totality anyway that I'd been staring at the cloud cover impatiently before the peak, and when the clouds parted I'd gotten an unprotected glimpse of the sun and yes, I could see the bite of it - and that person went "Well, you do permanent damage at 20 seconds, so you might've been lucky". How long do they imagine it takes to see the sun when the clouds break and then look down again?
I think I've figured this out.
The rule is "You should not stare at the sun, even during an eclipse". This is a sensible rule that nobody has ever needed to tell anybody over the age of, say, six weeks. We don't stare at the sun. Even infants know better - if the sun shines in your eyes, you squint, put your hand up, and turn away. Aniamls are even smarter! No matter what happens, they don't need to be told.
But humans think we're cleverer than animals, and during an eclipse we sometimes break that rule and look at the sun because it's cool. And because the light seems dimmer, we can look longer. But it's not really dimmer - it's just as bright, it's just that some of it is blocked. So for the past year, we've had it drummed into our heads that you shouldn't look at the eclipse without glasses. Consequently, many people have internalized the rule as "You shouldn't stare at the sun, especially during an eclipse". But the sun isn't any more dangerous then. It's only our behavior that changes!
If you look for up to five seconds, you're probably fine, just like when you turn a corner and find yourself driving toward the sun. (Or look up at a flock of birds just as the clouds part and find the sun glaring in your eyes, or wake up with the sun in your eyes.) According to the only study on the subject, you're not likely to have visible damage unless you look for 15 seconds or longer... and even then, most patients improved with time.
So don't stare at the sun, but if you did catch a glimpse, whether on purpose or not, it's probably no more harmful than when you catch a glimpse of the sun on regular days.
(As for Trump, this was a dumb move, but not because of the potential eye damage. It was a dumb move because everybody and their dog, literally, knows better but he still did it on national TV. Doofus. And if he's getting any flak from it he probably blames the aide for calling attention to his behavior rather than his own foolish decision to do something everybody knows, from the very day they're born, not to do.)
* Turns out it was more like 30 seconds in his case, which is really way too long. Not that I give a fuck what that person does to his eyes.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-23 02:39 pm (UTC)Well, that's not entirely true. They've done various studies. And various opthamalogists are rather concerned about it. And they'd be the experts.
Samuel Wong, MD, and colleagues from the Leicester Royal Infirmary in Leicester, England, studied 45 patients after they observed an August 1999 solar eclipse. Although none of the patients who looked directly at the eclipse was totally blinded, 40 of them experienced discomfort or had visual disturbances or changes within the eye. Only five patients had no evidence of eye damage.
Nevertheless, the damage done to the eye can be severe enough to affect daily activities, according to the study, published in the British medical journal The Lancet.
Media warnings of possible eye damage when viewing eclipses may have made the observers more cautious, researchers postulate, resulting in less visual impairment than might otherwise have taken place. But while the researchers praised the media for these public health warnings, other eye experts have different opinions.
http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/news/20010124/solar-eclipse-beware-glare#1
After Eclipse Keep Eye on After Images, Optometrist Warns.
Damaged eyes
Early observers of astronomy sometimes found out about solar retinopathy the hard way. Thomas Harriot, who observed sunspots in 1610 but did not publish his discovery, wrote in 1612 that after viewing the sun his "sight was dim for an hour." Oxford astronomer John Greaves was once quoted as saying that after sun observations, he saw afterimages that looked like a flock of crows in his vision. In the most famous case of all, Isaac Newton https://www.livescience.com/20296-isaac-newton.html tried looking at the sun in a mirror, essentially blinding himself for three days and experiencing afterimages for months.
Scientists don't have a good bead on the prevalence of eye damage after a solar eclipse https://www.livescience.com/59663-how-solar-eclipses-make-people-go-blind.html. In one study, conducted in 1999 after a solar eclipse visible in Europe, 45 patients with possible solar retinopathy showed up at an eye clinic in Leicester in the United Kingdom after viewing the eclipse. Forty were confirmed to have some sort of damage or symptoms of damage; five of those had visible changes in their retina.
Twenty of the patients reported eye pain, while another 20 reported problems with vision. Of the latter group, 12 reported that their sight had returned to normal seven months later, but four could still see the ghosts of the damage in their visual field, such as a crescent-shaped spot visible in dim light. [If the Sun Is 93 Million Miles Away, Why Can't We Look Directly at It? https://www.livescience.com/59699-solar-eclipse-eye-damage.html]
"Our series demonstrates that, contrary to popular belief, the majority of people with eclipse retinopathy are not totally blinded," the researchers wrote in 2001 in the journal The Lancet. However, they warned, earlier Are the horror stories, valid? (shrugs) When I was in the 6th grade, the teachers didn't let us to go and watch the eclipse, even with the pin-hole boxes, because they were terrified we'd all look at the sun and blind ourselves. And various opthamologists were posting warnings on the internet. Also, I had my first pair of eclipse glasses recalled by Amazon because they didn't meet the criteria and could cause blindness.
Granted it probably doesn't completely, or birds would fall from the sky. But when you look at it, you may concentrate on it more than a bright sun.
Better safe than sorry, unless of course, you don't care about your eyesight? ;-)
no subject
Date: 2017-08-24 04:24 am (UTC)Or unless the fear of potential eye damage is causing serious anxiety even days later - which does seem to be the case for some people. That's not safe.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-24 12:47 pm (UTC)True. I had some anxiety about it. So am somewhat relieved to discover that looking at the sun through filtered lenses for less than a minute or even if I look at it directly for a second without filtered, I'm safe.
You are not wrong about the media traumatizing people over this. In my search for linkage, I found an article about a city in Australia panicking over the eclipse, due to misinformation:
That Time a City Scared Itself Silly Over a Total Solar Eclipse.