Avoid burning your retinas watching the solar eclipse; get protective glasses

No matter where you will be during the total solar eclipse in August, you need to be prepared for a lot of things — but especially when it comes to your eye protection.

“These are inexpensive solar eclipse glasses. These are incredibly dark compared to what your typical sunglass is. And you can see there’s just no comparison to the darkness,” Dr. Jerry Nave, with Advantage Eye Center, said.

Solar eclipse glasses block a higher amount of the photogenic radiation we get from the sun.

“What you’re doing is magnifying the protection with something like this compared to a sunglass. Sunglasses by themselves are not sufficient. The intention is to block the intensity,” Nave said.

This is the first total solar eclipse traveling from the West Coast to East Coast of the United States in 99 years. It is a rare sight many people will have the opportunity to experience, but we have to be smart about it, especially since the moments before and after totality are when the chance of solar retinal burn is the highest.

“The problem is, people are going to keep looking at the sun, trying to see, ‘Oh, is it starting? Is it starting?’ or how much is blocked. That is when they’re going to get the most damage,” Nave said.

Nave said, technically, when the eclipse is at totality, we can take our glasses off. But he still recommends we keep the eclipse glasses on for the entire event.

He said many people do not feel the solar retinal burn when it’s happening. But, if later you realize your sight is less clear and your eyes are irritated, you may want to see your local eye doctor to find out how severe the burn is. In addition, if a burn can happen to you, it can most definitely happen to your children.

“You can tell them a thousand times, but they may or may not understand the risks involved. So of course, supervision is what you’re going to need — that’s the most important thing. With that said, you’re going to want them to have their glasses on. Leave them one through the whole thing. With the kids, you’re going to have to either strap them one, tape them on, maybe use a rubber band or something so they can’t really take them off very easily,” Nave said, suggesting how to keep your kids’ eyes safe.

If you plan on taking video or pictures of the eclipse, you need the right solar protection for the lenses. And it’s best to keep your eclipse glasses on while taking pictures or video, because the lenses can magnify the light and damage your eyes in that way as well.

KIFI/KIDK is selling eclipse glasses here, and you can see all of our eclipse reporting, plus interactive maps, at our special Eclipse 2017 section.