Excitement continues to rise for the eclipse on Monday and safety is always a concern. But is looking at an eclipse as dangerous as it’s often made out to be?
Optometrists said, in a word, yes.
In Michigan the sun will be approximately 85% covered by the moon making the sun 85% less dangerous than it normally is.
David Durkee is the Assistant Dean for Clinical Education for the College of Optometry at Ferris State University. He said even though it's technically less dangerous during an eclipse, it’s never safe to look at the sun, even if it’s partially covered.
“Nobody would usually go out and just look at the sun without something in front of it. Because they just know, gosh that hurts, that’s bright. They know to turn around and look away. The problem with an eclipse is it gets just dark enough and still a little bit uncomfortable and you sit there and try to look at it. So you think it’s okay and it’s really not”.
Durkee said looking at the eclipse in Michigan without protection will start to damage the back of your eye.
“Unless the moon completely covers the sun it's not safe to look a the eclipse with anything other than approved sun protection. So, if you're going to stay in the state of Michigan it's not going to be anywhere near dark enough to look at it without the proper protection on”.
Durkee said to look at the eclipse for more than a couple seconds you need special glasses, or a welder's glass number 12 or higher.
On the web:
List of certified reputable eclipse glasses:
https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters