why do people go blind, looking at the eclipse?

Question

the moon is covering the sun, so its not bright

Answer 1

The Sun's light is dangerous for the eyes. It will damage the retina if you look at it for more than a few seconds. Whether there is an eclipse, or not.

Even a small portion of the Sun's surface is too bright for our eyes.

Normally, if you accidentally look towards the Sun, re reflex will make you look away (avoiding permanent danger). However, during an eclipse, people know that something is going on, so they will fight the reflex and force themselves to look for many seconds -- or even for many minutes.

The bad part is that the Moon covering part of the Sun actually makes it easier to fight the reflex.

And that is the danger.

Once the eclipse is total, then there is no danger.

Answer 2

The dangers of looking at a solar eclipse are greatly exaggerated. I've looked at annular eclipses, partial eclipses and one total eclipse of the sun and it's never harmed my eyes. Naturally, I do this with care, but if you do too you won't go blind.

There is always a risk of harming your eyesight if you stare at the dazzling sun. This has nothing to do with eclipses; you could hurt your eyes just as easily while lying on the beach in Florida. If today you stared at the sun for an extended time, you might harm your eyes.

Well-meaning people endlessly repeat this warning at eclipse times. From recycling over and over and over, the warnings have grown into an almost superstitious fear that, with metaphysical certitude, looking at an eclipse of the sun causes instant blindness. That's rubbish, and I stand as living proof that it is.

What really happens during an eclipse is this:

1) You absolutely cannot harm your eyes looking at a total eclipse, during totality.

2) Before and after totality, even the tiniest gleam of sunlight is so dazzlingly bright that you'll find you cannot stare at it. It's too intense. As well, even a mere glimmer of sun is too dazzling for your eyes to resolve into a crescent. You can't see the partial phase as anything but a brilliant ball of light.

3) I know all this because I've looked fleetingly at partial eclipses with my unaided eye. I found that I couldn't stare, even if I wanted to. I suppose that someone could force himself to stare, but why would anyone try to do that?

4) Even when I did look up during the partial eclipse, there was nothing to see anyway! And this is the point. The reason people use pinhole cameras, welders glasses and the like is not so much to protect your eyes. It's because you won't see any solar features without them.

Here's the sad thing about the baseless cult of fear that surrounds eclipses: A total eclipse of the sun is the most sublime event in all of nature. (Trust me on this one!) Millions of people who might have the chance to experience one for themselves, especially children, are going to be deprived of this magnificent spectacle due to supersition and well-meaning over-protectiveness.

That's the greatest hurt.

Answer 3

Because the light that comes for before and after the sun is blocked is so bright that it burns your retinas. That's why people can go blind from looking at the sun.

Answer 4

It's not the total phase that's dangerous, it's the partial phases where the Sun's photosphere isn't covered by the Moon. Your eye's lens focuses the Sun's heat on your retina, and cooks it, literally. While observing a solar eclipse, you have to use heavy filtration during the partial phases, and then look directly at the Sun during totality. At the total solar eclipse near Jalu, Libya, last year, I observed the partial phases with a Coronado Personal Solar Telescope, then used 10x50 binoculars and my naked eyes during totality:
http://www.gaherty.ca/
http://www.gaherty.ca/tme/TME0606_Tale_of_Two_Eclipses.pdf

Answer 5

usually due to the hinderance caused by the moon in suns path the light rays gets blocked n so the excess amount of light escapes from the pherifiri of the moon . This is wat happens to the UV rays tat also have high intensity n direcly focuses to the earth.......This is caused because the light diverges at sharp ends n as sun is too far frm moon the outer edge of moon is almost a sharp end n so the whole of the uv ray focuses at a point n this causes the retina to burn tats it....... hope u got it!!!!!

Answer 6

exactly the point. Its not bright so your eyes open up to let in more visible light... however there is still a lot of invisible light that strikes your retina causes burning and damage. Your eyes dont know to protect themselves becuase there is little visible light.

Answer 7

the intensity of the light