The Sun Did Burn an Eclipse-Shaped Hole in Someone’s Retina
Remember all those warnings about the need to wear protective gear when looking at an eclipse? New research from JAMA Ophthalmology reveals exactly what happens when you don’t.
After the August eclipse, a woman named Nia Payne went to New York’s Mount Sinai Eye and Ear Hospital, saying there was a blank space in her vision. The doctors asked her to draw the shape of the spot; it was the shape of the sun during a solar eclipse (round, with the bite removed from it).
For several seconds, she stared into the sun with no eye protection when it was 70 percent closed. Then she borrowed the Eclipse glasses and looked for another 15-20 seconds.
The glasses were probably fakes; Payne said that when she looked through them, the sun seemed really bright. Doctors at Mount Sinai used a modern device to photograph the wound on her retina and found that it was exactly the same shape as her blind spot. The Washington Post reports that for the first time , doctors were able to accurately see the damage from an eclipse.
The next time you have the opportunity to observe an eclipse, wear suitable goggles or make a hole-viewing device instead.