Millions of people in parts of eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse that will occur on April 8. But they only look up if they’re dressed in good enough eye protection, experts say.
When other people look at the sun, the intense light triggers pain that leads them to temporarily look away before they can cause harm, said Dr. Philip Hooper, president of the Canadian Society of Ophthalmology.
But as the moon begins to block the sun in the era before the general eclipse, “there’s a lot of gentle power coming from the sun, but we don’t appreciate the pain. So you can watch it long enough to do something. “”to the eyes,” said Hooper, who is also an associate professor of ophthalmology at Western University in London, Ontario.
When you look at the sun, intense visual light and infrared radiation are concentrated in the center of the retina, at the back of the eye.
“It’s like taking a magnifying glass out of the sun in one day and focusing that light on a piece of paper. It can get hot enough to burn the paper,” Hooper said.
The sun has the same effect, as your eye concentrates this power on a small part of the retina.
“The temperature of the cells in this domain can become high enough that the fluid in the cells boils and permanently damages the cells,” he said.
This microscope symbol provided through the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary at Mount Sinai shows pain in the retina of a user who watched the 2017 eclipse without sufficient protection. He complained of a black spot in his vision and doctors found that the pain in his retina matched. the shape of the eclipse. (Mount Sinai AP)
No, sunglasses don’t offer protection, Hooper said.
Again, no. Windows doesn’t offer any protection.
Not.
“Eclipse or not, you shouldn’t look at the sun with the naked eye, or with a camera or a telescope, without a (certified) solar filter. This can lead to irreversible eye damage,” reads a protective video about the eclipse posted online by the Canadian Space Agency.
Pointing your phone’s camera at the eclipse can have other consequences as well.
“Remember, your phone’s camera has lenses, like glasses, and the light comes from the sun as soon as you open the shutter,” said Elaina Hyde, director of the Allan I. Carswell Observatory at York University in Toronto.
“At the very least, you could damage your camera. You may not be able to see anything anymore because your phone can’t handle that light. “
You’ll want special glasses with filters designed to practice eclipses, says the Canadian Space Agency’s website.
These glasses need to have side coverage so light rays can’t get in, Hooper said.
They will also need to have qualified lenses, he added.
The glasses will need to be ISO 12312-2 certified, which means that the glasses comply with foreign protection standards.
When you wear glasses, you shouldn’t see anything unless you’re in the sun.
“No matter how bright you are exposed in your indoor environment, if you were to illuminate them with a very bright light, you would see anything. They are completely black. That’s how dark they are,” Hooper said.
Eclipse glasses should not be worn if they are “scratched, punctured, broken, or otherwise damaged,” the American Astronomical Society says on its website, emphasizing that other people should inspect your glasses before wearing them.
The company also claims that children who wear the glasses during the eclipse deserve to be supervised at all times.
According to the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s website, free eclipse glasses can be obtained at many libraries, cities, and school districts in Canada.
The American Astronomical Society has a list of corporations and stores in Canada and the United States that sell qualified solar eclipse glasses.
Some that sell them in Quebec are indexed on the Eclipse Québec website.
Welding goggles are available in a variety of grades, designated by a number, according to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Safety and Health website.
The minimum darkness required to safely practice the eclipse is pitch 13, Hooper said.
“It’s much darker than the welding glasses that welders wear. And they’re not widely available,” he said.
Another option for viewing is to make a projector so that you never look directly at the sun. It can be as undeniable as a piece of paper with a hole that casts sunlight onto the sidewalk, or a projector made out of a box.
The Canadian Space Agency’s website offers undeniable instructions on how to make a projector: an empty cardboard box, a sheet of white paper, aluminum foil, a pin, duct tape and scissors.
For instructions, https://www. asc-csa. gc. ca/fra/youth-educators/activities/fun-experiments/eclipse-projector. asp
-With Sonja Puzic
This report via The Canadian Press was first published on March 29, 2024.
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