Solar eclipse ring of fire May 2012: Lack of caution may cause blindness
Solar eclipse ring of fire May 2012 is making headlines across the world. But experts say that lack of caution may cause blindness, says Hasan Syed of NVONews.Com
Four days from now many parts of the US will witness solar eclipse with a ring of fire. Even this partial solar eclipse is coming to the US in more than 18 years. But the ring of fire will be limited to some areas, while the rest of the country will have to do with merely partial eclipse.
People are very excited with the news of the solar eclipse and the ring of fire that is giving the sun a more menacing look. The halo of fire spread across the ferocious sun will make the solar eclipse look a lot different from the previous solar eclipses.
But besides excitement, you should also be very cautious while watching the solar eclipse. Never, ever watch the solar eclipse from your naked eyes. In most of the cases, people who resort to seeing solar eclipse from their naked eyes, get their eyesight impaired or completely lost. Complete blindness has also been reported in many cases when people resorted to watching the solar eclipse without taking proper precaution.
An expert with a planetarium says, People who look directly at the sun, even for as little as five seconds, risk permanent eye damage, even blindness. He goes to say that the safest way to watch the partial solar eclipse, when the moon passes between the earth and the sun, is on the television, or on the internet where it will be shown on live webcasts. And to be true, this is available on many websites from NASA to other news portals as well.
An expert warns people not to watch the solar eclipse not just from naked eye but also not even from camera or binocular. Says he, “It is not safe to look at the eclipse with the naked eye, or even observe it through a telescope, binoculars or camera. Sunglasses and photographic film are also “wholly inadequate”.
Though watching the solar eclipse from a live telecast is the safest way, there are some other methods too that will not impair your eyesight. If you really want to watch it directly yourself go for solar filter that may fit completely on your equipment that you will be using to watch the eclipse. Another method that can help you watch it is welder’s glass no. 14 that you should wear on your eyes. Everything else is dangerous. So don’t take chance and plan your day out with great details and get all the right equipment. Don’t take details given here as final, contact local planetarium to know the timings of the solar eclipse in your area and the right equipment that you should use to watch the solar eclipse.
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