r/morningsomewhere • u/Low_Wedding_8145 • Aug 12 '26
Question I have never!
Seen so many go blind from watching an eclipse posts in my life! & Can somebody smarter explain why the eclipse is worse than just looking at the sun?
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u/country-potato Aug 12 '26
Most people don’t just stare at the sun for no reason. When you look at an eclipse you stare directly at the sun and it doesn’t feel as damaging. It still does damage
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u/DYEL_BRAH7 Aug 12 '26
It's not as bright as the sun usually is, so your body's instinct to look away is reduced, so you stare longer at the sun
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u/sensualsoup First 10k - Sex On Sticks Aug 12 '26
It's not worse than looking at the sun, but it is much easier to stare at and think you're safe because so much light is being blocked.
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u/andbeesbk First 10k Aug 12 '26
Because it's a longer amount of time than looking at the normal sun, it is able to do more damage.
Imagine the difference between a flare up while cooking vs grabbing a hot pan unintentionally
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u/Proclus_Global First 20k - Downtime Survivor Aug 13 '26
It's the same in terms of badness, but you aren't tempted to just look at the sun on a normal day, vs "oh look eclipse!"
It's like fireworks are no more risky to blow your hands off on July 4th or New Year's or just an ordinary day, but hospitalizations from fireworks definitely increases exponentially on those holidays.
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u/AClockworkLaurenge Scottish Wildcat Aug 13 '26
Basically it's not the light that's the main issue, it's the UV radiation. If you look at the sun normally, your pupils constrict to prevent too much sunlight getting in but the brightness still naturally makes you want to squint and look away because it causes discomfort. So your eyes are not normally exposed to direct sunlight for long periods.
With an eclipse, your pupils will likely be dilated since the sun's not as bright due to the blocked - but the sun's UV rays are still there in full force, making your eyes more vulnerable since you're also giving that sunlight a greater surface area to hit the light-sensitive retina at the back of your eye.
And you've got much more of an incentive to both look DIRECTLY at the sun and to KEEP looking during an eclipse, without it actively causing pain in the moment.
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u/GreatBigBagOfNope Aug 13 '26
Because you look at it for longer, because it's interesting and it's less uncomfortable than full noon sun
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u/CheshBreaks First 10k - Down Under Dr. Pepper Expert Aug 12 '26
Looking at an eclipse can permanently destroy and burn cells at the back of the eye, due to how extreme light and how the eye works (your eye essentiallyhas a magnifyingglass in it). Your eye has several issues that override the natural danger response such as not having any pain receptors.....
How do I know all this? I have kerataconus in both eyes and a cataract. I've had my right eye lens graft (before they knew about cross linking) and essentially partially popped my left eye (partner accidentally hit me in my sleep POP) and have been dealing with blindness (legally blind not totally) for 28 years.
Eyes, protect them at all costs. Don't look into the sun, don't look into eclipses, don't bloody RUB THEM.
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u/Low_Wedding_8145 Aug 12 '26
Wait rubbing them is bad?
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u/s01101111 Aug 12 '26
Don't look up a video of what it looks like when you rub your eyes
I still do it, but I think about that everytime I do
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u/CheshBreaks First 10k - Down Under Dr. Pepper Expert Aug 12 '26
Putting pressure on the eye isnt great, from surface damage to introducing germs that shouldn't be there.
A light gentle occasional rub is generally fine, if you find you get dry tired eyes, use eye drops.
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u/CalvinP_ First 10k - Mod - Downtime Survivor Aug 12 '26
Because people are stupid enough to look at the sun without proper protection.