The countdown is on - with the total solar eclipse less than a month away.
On April 8, millions of Americans in 13 states will find themselves directly on the eclipse's path of totality.
And while the cosmic event brings a lot of excitement, doctors are warning it can also bring permanent eye damage.
We’ve all heard the warnings before - don’t look directly at the sun during a solar eclipse. But you may be wondering - what’s the harm in a quick glance?
Dr. Nina Goyal, an ophthalmologist with Rush University Medical Center, explained why doing so can damage your eyes.
“As light is entering the eye, it's creating a little burn in the retina back here, or a little damage in the central part of the these are nerve cells," she said. “It's typically not total blindness, it's usually central loss of vision."
Preventing this type of damage comes down to finding the right eclipse glasses with the right protection.
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“When you look at the eclipse glasses, you want to make sure that you check for the ISO certification for example, in here, it says ISO 12312-2, which is the International Organization which will certify these glasses,” Goyal explained.
Also pay special attention to the company that produces the glasses. Dr. Goyal recommends buying from a brand listed on the American Astronomical Society's approved list.
“The American Astronomical Society did really great work on this. And I think they saw a lot of counterfeits being sold on internet websites,” Goyal said.
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If you’re still wondering how to tell if your glasses will give you the right protection, here’s a quick way to tell.
“When you wear the glasses, you should not be able to see anything," the doctor said. "It is a flexible resin with carbon particles infused, the only thing you should be able to see out of these is the orange glow of the sun. Don't use sunglasses, don't layer sunglasses, and don't use smoked glass."
Key takeaways
Here are the key take-aways for finding legitimate eclipse glasses.
- When buying eclipse glasses, look for an approved manufacturer on the astronomical society’s website and make sure the glasses have the numbers iso 1-2-3-1-2- 2 printed on the inside.
- You can find the list of Suppliers of Safe Solar Viewers & Filters here.
- If you still have your glasses from the 2017 eclipse, you might be able to reuse them. But Dr. Goyle said that's only if they aren’t bent, torn, or scratched.
