Fact and Fiction: Eclipses
All the talk of the August 1, 2008 Solar Eclipse made me think of a few things. Mostly, I thought about how little I knew about this subject. I decided to research it a bit, and am sharing what I found.
{pathway of the Solar Eclipse from Wikipedia}
The first comment we always hear is that you should never look at a Eclipse directly, as you can go blind. It’s been told to all children by teachers and parents, it’s on the news and it’s in the newspapers, so it has to be true, right? Well, today I am feeling cynical, so I am looking closely at this {so-called} fact more closely.
First off, we must know what the difference is between a Lunar Eclipse and a Solar Eclipse .
{I put these together in Photoshop from dkimages diagrams}
Lunar Eclipse:
- The Moon passes in the Earth’s shadow. Basically, the Earth is like the tall person sitting in front of you at the movies. It is blocking all direct sunlight to the Moon, causing it to not reflect anything visible back to Earth.
Solar Eclipse:
- The Moon passes in between the Earth and the Sun. This tiny little piece of floating stuff actually blocks the Sun from hitting the Earth. It is concentrated in an area on Earth, where the Moon’s shadow would hit the Earth.
Ok, so why would you go blind from looking at an eclipse? There are two parts to this answer, which I based on a few reads, including NASA’s “Eye Safety During Solar Eclipses” article.
1. If you are looking at a Lunar Eclipse, there is no blindness, nor damage. Why would this be? Well, since the Sun is behind the Earth, and the Moon is simply going dark because it cannot reflect the sunlight due to Earth being in the way, there is no effect. The fact that the Moon is not reflecting anything does not affect us, beyond the fact that is makes spectacular pictures.
2. If you are looking at a Solar Eclipse, it can be dangerous to your eyesight…but only during specific points of the Eclipse. The light-sensitive rods and cones of your retinas can be burned or damaged during the part in the eclipse where the Sun is not completely blocked. Basically, your pupils cannot contract fast enough after seeing the darkness of the total Eclipse, and the emerging sunlight can cause much damage. Medically, the term is Eclipse Blindness. So, although *they* say that it causes blindness, there are very few cases of this fact. It may cause damage temporarily or permanently, depending on the exposure, (not total blindness though) so it not advisable to look directly at the Solar Eclipse, unless you have proper equipment.
I am happy to have learned a few things and found even more information about today’s Solar Eclipse. I even found a live camera event of the August 1, 2008 Solar Eclipse on the Exploratorium Website.
Play it here ! 
Have a fantabulous day,
