How to Safely View Solar Eclipses Without a Sunburn
Eclipses are cosmic spectacles, but staring at the Sun is like using your eyes as magnifying glasses. Protect your peepers with certified filters, or enjoy the show via tree shadows or a box with a pinhole. Your eyes, and the wonders of the universe, are worth it!
In the grand celestial theater, few events captivate our attention as effortlessly as a solar eclipse. It's like a cosmic game of peek-a-boo between the Moon and the Sun, with Earthlings playing the role of awestruck spectators. However, before you embark on this cosmic adventure, there's something crucial you need to know: Our eyes are like magnifying glasses, and staring at the Sun during an eclipse is like focusing sunlight on your retinas. Ouch!
Enter Professor David Lozano, a vigilant guardian of ocular health from the Faculty of Medicine at the UNAM, who's here to shed light on the topic. He warns, “Our natural reaction when we look directly at the star is to look away because its incandescence is such that fixing our gaze on it is annoying and forces us to blink.” But during an eclipse, the sky darkens just enough to trick us into thinking it's safe to ogle the Sun directly, and that's where the trouble begins.
