Looking at the sun?

Question

I just took a picture of the sun when it wasn' really bright, when it's around 17:51. But my eyes felt uncomfortable after that, I only had a brief look at it and it was behind a few clouds and only reappeared after that. Will I become blind? Or am I becoming blind gradually?

Answer 1

nope you I don't think you are becoming blind

Sunlight is very bright, and looking directly at the Sun with the naked eye for brief periods can be painful, but is generally not hazardous. Looking directly at the Sun causes phosphene visual artifacts and temporary partial blindness. It also delivers about 4 milliwatts of sunlight to the retina, slightly heating it and potentially (though not normally) damaging it. UV exposure gradually yellows the lens of the eye over a period of years and can cause cataracts, but those depend on general exposure to solar UV, not on whether one looks directly at the Sun.

Viewing the Sun through light-concentrating optics such as binoculars is very hazardous without an attenuating (ND) filter to dim the sunlight. Unfiltered binoculars can deliver over 500 times more sunlight to the retina than does the naked eye, killing retinal cells almost instantly. Even brief glances at the midday Sun through unfiltered binoculars can cause permanent blindness.[35] One way to view the Sun safely is by projecting an image onto a screen using binoculars. This should only be done with a small refracting telescope (or binoculars) with a clean eyepiece. Other kinds of telescope can be damaged by this procedure.

Partial solar eclipses are hazardous to view because the eye's pupil is not adapted to the unusually high visual contrast: the pupil dilates according to the total amount of light in the field of view, not by the brightest object in the field. During partial eclipses most sunlight is blocked by the Moon passing in front of the Sun, but the uncovered parts of the photosphere have the same surface brightness as during a normal day. In the overall gloom, the pupil expands from ~2 mm to ~6 mm, and each retinal cell exposed to the solar image receives about ten times more light than it would looking at the non-eclipsed sun. This can damage or kill those cells, resulting in small permanent blind spots for the viewer.[36] The hazard is insidious for inexperienced observers and for children, because there is no perception of pain: it is not immediately obvious that one's vision is being destroyed.

During sunrise and sunset, sunlight is attenuated through rayleigh and mie scattering of light by a particularly long passage through Earth's atmosphere, and the direct Sun is sometimes faint enough to be viewed directly without discomfort or safely with binoculars (provided there is no risk of bright sunlight suddenly appearing in a break between clouds). Hazy conditions, atmospheric dust, and high humidity contribute to this atmospheric attenuation.

Attenuating filters to view the Sun should be specifically designed for that use: some improvised filters pass UV or IR rays that can harm the eye at high brightness levels. In general, filters on telescopes or binoculars should be on the objective lens or aperture rather than on the eyepiece, because eyepiece filters can suddenly shatter due to high heat loads from the absorbed sunlight. Welding glass is an acceptable solar filter, but "black" exposed photographic film is not (it passes too much infrared).

Answer 2

As a kid, probably 8,9, or so I used to look at the sun in amazement. I too used to feel uncomfortable, but could not stop looking at it. Today I am 31 with 20/20 vision, no blindness at all. The only problem with my eyes that I have now is that I can not stand bright light. Every time I go outside I HAVE to wear sunglasses with UV block.

Other than that no problems! I don't recommend looking at the sun directly at all, just in case.

Answer 3

The risk on blindness depends on exposure time, brightness of the moment and distance. No one can predict you to turn blind.
Anyhow be careful with the sun rays!

Th