Solar eclipse, I don't understand why we can't look 😬

[Abouteffingtime]

I'm not stupid....really.

So mormally, if you look at the sun, its bright, but doesn't appear do any harm. (Based on my random viewing of the sun on occasion...) Can anyone explain to me why the solar eclipse is different?

Or, is it actually different?

Don't look through the colander. If you look at the spots of sunshine it casts on the ground or on a flat surface, they will change shape as the eclipse progresses. Basically, they follow the shape of the visible sun.

We tried to make very rubbish pinhole "cameras" for the 1999 eclipse but ended up seeing it from under a tree which had the proper pinhole effect - with hundreds of tiny eclipses reflected (?) on the pavement. It was quite lovely actually.

I think the colander thing might work.

I have a solar filter on my telescope. It looks completely black and no light gets through it at all. But you can still use it to see the sun.

If any glasses/ filters etc allow light through so you can see through them, they are not good enough to look at the sun.

Some photos of last years eclipse, which was had a lot less coverage.

I saw that. Quite fascinating. I never realised until then that light through trees was the shape of the sun.

See this is why googling stuff is inadequate. I've read a bunch of explainers which say to look at the image projected through a colander and I'm like "what the fuck use is that", assuming it'll just be that the little holes get covered up in turn which wouldn't be anything LIKE watching an eclipse.

I'm scarred for life by the Triffids. I am seriously considering using two pairs of eclipse glasses.

You should never look directly at the sun

Really?
On a desert island, you would be the first person to be eaten

The sun is not the hottest thing EVER. The surface (the bit we see) is 5000degrees and the core is around 12million.

A fusion reactor (there was one in Oxford) can get up to 150million degrees. And CERN has managed up to 5trillion degrees. Much hotter than the sun.

Also, the sun is a relatively small, insignificant star, there are much bigger and hotter ones out there.

If you are going to berate someone for being stupid at least get your facts right. It is never wrong to ask a question about something you don’t know.

Fortunately we're not (so far as I know) farming ambulatory plants that kill people, so we're not quite as doomed as the people in The Day of the Triffids.

That's what they want you to think! 😱

My husband’s retina was damaged by looking at the eclipse in 1999. He can permanently see the shape of a crescent in his vision.

Don’t muck about with it.

My only memory of the eclipse in 1999 is that it was overcast. We had the glasses and stared up at the sky through the special glasses and saw absolutely nothing. It got slightly dim (like it was about to rain) for a few minutes then back to normal. Complete damp squib.

Havent managed to get any glasses this time (who knew Amazon prime wouldn’t be able to get them here on time when ordered 5 days in advance) so may try the colander thing. We live in a built up area and the sun will be low in the sky due to the time though so not sure if we will see much?

You are quite smug in your superiority, aren’t you?

This is a common question, if it wasn’t there wouldn’t be so many pages online explaining it. Knowing you have a gap in your knowledge and asking about it isn’t stupidity. Everyone has gaps, that seem obvious to other people.

People should never be put off asking questions about something they don’t know.

And if you are going to explain something then make sure you get your explanation right, it isn’t the temperature of the Sun that is the problem, it is the intensity.

It's not safe to stare or "glance" at the sun on a normal day

Forcing people to stare at the sun has actually been used as a primitive form of torture in the past. It hurts a LOT but also carries with it the likelihood of lifelong impaired vision. When not being tortured it's quite rare to stare directly at the sun- it hurts, we naturally screw up our eyes and look away, even staring in the general direction (not directly into it) hurts. Hence the lovely photos of people at weddings etc with their whole face screwed up or looking like they are blinking because the photographer has their backs to the sun. (Some people struggle more with this than others. Particularly if you have light coloured eyes you will be more prone to being dazzled)

If you power through the pain and stare directly at the sun for some reason, you will likely seriously damage your retina. The government doesn't tend to issue warnings re this because why would anyone do that? However, if you are outside in bright sunny weather, or where there is a lot of snow, it's strongly recommended to wear sun glasses. They don't protect against staring at the sun directly but they do protect against general brightness/glare and accidentally looking. People who spend a lot of time outside in sunny countries or sunny conditions do often develop eyesight problems over time.

During an eclipse it hurts less to look at the sun, and also there is more reason to. However the amount of damage done to the retinas is the same as during non eclipse times. Hence the government warns people not to look at it directly.

Like the fact the sun is the “Hottest thing EVER”. Your words!

So since I knew this fact was incorrect does this make me superior to you?

True confidence isn’t thinking you are better than others, it is knowing it is not a competition.

Crikey, some people really are offended by the question aren't they?

Thank you to all of the helpful replies.

To all the DUHH you're so THICKK! posters, can I reframe the OP's question:

During normal day to day life, people look around them and do not have to avert their eyes from the sun, we don't have people with permanently scarred vision because they saw the sun. Why is it more dangerous to glance at the sun during an eclipse?

Answer: because as well as people being more tempted to stare rather than glance and try and make out the crescent shape, the light from the sun is less intense, so it doesn't immediately trigger our automatic protective reflex to flinch and look away (especially if you're looking through something like dark sunglasses or solar film). But the radiation which damages your eyes is just as intense.

@PetiteParakeet why thank you. My point exactly. I keep seeing "don't look directly at the solar eclipse" rather than "never look at the sun" I forgot this is mumsnet and any question/comment has to be perfectly worded and thought through!

Because if you say “never stare at the sun” in the run up to the eclipse, people will decide “that’s alright then, the moon is covering the sun so I can have a right good stare at it”

Dont be so obnoxious.

It's a blog article on the Health Security Agency website, under the 'prevention' category. Why would that be a source of despair for you? Look at the other articles on their blog - they all seem like very sensible advice on a host of health-related issues.

Sun glasses are generally not strong enough to prevent eye damage from looking at the sun directly. If they were they were you wouldn't be able to see anything through them during normal use.