University of Virginia Library

Solar Eclipse
Damages Sight

By Rob Pritchard
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

A solar eclipse on a clear day may be
one of the more spectacular sights an eye
can see, and it also can be one of the last.

"There is no safe way to view the
eclipse," according to The National
Society for the Protection of Blindness.
"So-called protectives such as sunglasses,
smoked glass or film negatives do not protect
the eye from the invisible infrared rays which
do the damage."

James Spencer Dryden, an ophthalmologist
and representative of the Washington, D.C.
Medical Society explained that the infrared rays
burn a hole in the macula part of the retina
must as sunlight burns a hole in paper when
focused through a magnifying glass.

The retina is the delicate inner lining of the
eye that transmits images to the brain. The
most sensitive part of the retina is the macula,
which is the focal point of the retina and the
portion used in "fine seeing" such as reading.

If infrared rays are focused on the retina too
long, damage may result in the eye which
glasses cannot correct. Many people do not
realize they have suffered solar burns until
much later, since the retina is not sensitive to
pain.

For this reason, care should be taken not to
look at the sun for more than a few seconds at
a time, and to be safe, one should not look at
the eclipse directly at all.

One method for observing the image of the
eclipse is to cut a small hole in one piece of
cardboard, on a plane with the sun, and focus
the solar image on another piece of white
cardboard. Rays from the sun will pass through
the hole and form on the cardboard below.

Unfortunately, the weather bureau forecasts
that widespread cloudiness and possibly rain
will cover the eastern third of the United States
on Saturday, the day of the eclipse, and could
ruin chances for perfect viewing of the
"extravaganza of the skies."