Solar eye damage

[Merlin66]

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/07/health/eclipse-eye-damage-case-study/index.html?sr=twCNN120717eclipse-eye-damage-case-study1002PMVODtop

Interesting reading...
A reminder, if you needed one, that observing the Sun can be dangerous.
Take the necessary precautions at all times.

[Premordial]

A sobering read and an important reminder. thanks Ken.

[Atmos]

I’ll stick to the PST :)

[alan meehan]

not only eye damage a few weeks ago I was out viewing the sun using a borrowed dedicated sun scope which I had borrowed from my friend houghy and a solar filter for the front of my telescope not thinking about it to much I had a hat on but found it hard to view through the scopes eyepiece so I took off my hat and spent the next few hrs viewing ,well I paid the penalty the sun was so hot on the back off my neck that I should have had some sun screen on the following is the damage I had done should have been more careful pays to wear protection whenever you look at the sun

[Atmos]

Ouch

[LewisM]

YEEGADS! You turned into The Creature from the Shortlands Swamp!

Only one cure - sell all telescopes, cheap :lol:

[casstony]

No kidding, that's nasty sun damage.

Real or imagined, the Sun seems more harsh in Oz than it does at similar northern latitudes. I spend a bit of time around SanFrancisco and I've never had the feeling there that the sun is sizzling my skin.

[luka]

And here is another reminder how permanent the sun damage to the eyes can be.
In 1962, one teenager looked directly at the eclipse for 20 seconds. Today, he can only use his right eye (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/08/21/20-seconds-of-burning-friends-partially-blinded-after-watching-solar-eclipse-warn-of-dangers/).

[OzEclipse]

Someone I know in Canberra watched the 1976 eclipse as a kid. While travelling to the observing location during partial phases, and against his parents instructions, he looked at the partial eclipse naked eye from the back of the family station wagon.

There is a picture of his retina about halfway down this page

http://joe-cali.com/eclipses/Eye_Safety/index.html

The picture is recent. When he was younger, the scar was very obviously crescent shaped as seen through an optical scope by his opthalmologist and his mother.

Joe

[xelasnave]

Deleted

[skysurfer]

When I read the CNN story, it appears that the victim girl used too weak glasses such as sunglasses. These are UNSUITABLE for solar viewing.
But I have seen welders in Bali using just sunglasses, which pose the same hazard.
I thought that the guy would lose his vision when continuing do do so.

[Suzy]

So scary. I remember the AAS putting out the warning of those unsafe solar viewing glasses which were sold online. I think there was a thread on it here.
A lesson here is to never borrow eclipse glasses unless you trust the source.
Poor woman, she was trying to do the right thing regarding safety :( .

[silv]

"The spot itself isn't dark anymore, but tends to match the color of whatever she's looking at. "


The mighty brain adapts and actively adds the most likely content to the perceived image, effectively covering the blind spot.

In his book(s), V.S. Ramachandran, a US neuroscientist with a knack for publicity ;) , describes several different accomplishments of the brain around the "optical machinery". Common ones (everybody has a blind spot in both eyes and the brain covers it up) and weird ones. Like the blind woman who "can" see - but experiences the seeing more like an imagined picture and not as a seen reality. Very interesting.

[OzEclipse]

I have some doubts about the story. The information confuses me.

She reportedly only has solar retinopathy in her left eye nothing in her right eye. Were she using unsafe eclipse glasses and staring at the eclipse she should have had burns equal in both eyes.

When looking naked eye at the sun, even for 20s as reported, most people would move their eyes yet the scar is precisely crescent shaped.

One possible explanation is that she looked through an optical device with one eye but didn't tell doctors. But if you scale the scar (see attached picture), it has a diameter of 295 microns corresponding to a focal length of 33mm, in the vicinity of the focal length of the human eye.

Perhaps she used a pinhole over one eye? We'll never know.

There were multiple issues with supply of eclipse glasses not related to this case study.

Some glasses that were patently unsuitable for solar viewing were sold.

Some glasses didn't meet the new ISO 12312-2 standard for solar glasses but were not necessarily unsafe.

Just because a filter does not meet this standard, does not mean it is unsafe.

The Baader astrosolar film I've been safely using for almost 20 years does not meet the new standard but nor has it sent me blind.

The new standard ISO 12312-2 specifies a material that is safe for continuous viewing with the naked eye. My film is suitable for use with an optical device. Old Baader film lets a bit too much UV through. Fine providing you are looking through a telescope or binoculars with their UV absorbing glass lenses.

I have always preferred black polymer for extended non-critical visual observations. eg Monitoring progress of a solar eclipse. I find the Baader uncomfortably bright through a scope. If looking for fine detail, I use a moon eyepiece filter with the Baader film, or I did until I lost my filter in the USA this year. Still in a field in Idaho me thinks!

Black polymer is the only way to go for eclipse shades IMO, anything reflective and you see reflections of your eyes interfering with the view of the sun.

Joe

[silv]

Except: She does have damage in both eyes.
The article makes a distinction between her "dominant eye" and the other one.

"She was diagnosed with solar retinopathy, retinal damage from exposure to solar radiation, in both eyes. It was worse in her dominant left eye; the damage in her right eye was minimal and more manageable."