ggttc Loc: TN

Seen several posts on here about this. And its amazing how fast it happens!

https://youtu.be/uXsJYpFlva4

salmander

It's too bad it didn't include the part of how looking directly at the Sun with the naked eye can make you blind. When you're looking at the Sun directly for a while, everything seems all right. But the next morning you wake up permanently blind, because it took all night for the scar tissue to cover your retina. The retina is burned that bad. You become blind while peacefully sleeping. Creepy. And scary that you don't know a thing about it when looking at the Sun the day before.

dck22

It is impossible to over emphasize the danger of looking directly at the sun. Hopefully everyone on the forum realizes this and is spreading the word to those who may not understand.

Robert R Loc: Indianapolis and Naples

With the proliferation of cell phone cameras, I am fearful that there are going to be a lot of eye injuries when people, who have not paid attention to the dangers, realize at the last minute that they are going to miss is the eclipse and take an unprotected cell phone photo.

oregon don

even more so looking through a telephoto lens

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Despite all the warnings, you know many people will experience eye damage during the eclipse.

salmander

It bothers me to think of how easy it is for this to happen. Now that I am an older person myself, I realize that perhaps most older people recognize how the younger generation is, well, frankly stupid sometimes. Recently, it has been determined that the human brain doesn't fully mature until the age of 26, so that explains a lot of it, but still. That's a long time to be potentially stupid (not counting the many people who seem to remain stupid as they get older). And with the proliferation of video clips and gifs online showing young people making some unbelievably stupid decisions makes it look even worse. It makes me wonder - were we that stupid sometimes when we were that age? There just was not any video existing - permanently on the web - to prove it. I did some "crazy" things at that age, but since "I knew what I was doing," nothing happened and I got away without damaging myself physically or mentally, therefore not appearing to be stupid. But if anything had gone wrong, I would have been identified as being a stupid person. I had no idea of that part. Phew!

So I am wondering and waiting for any reports of just such eye damage.

ggttc Loc: TN

Here is an app with warnings given to you by GPS...especially useful if you have children running around while you are fiddling with the camera

Just bring it up and it will find you with your phones GPS...give you the exact time of totality and duration.

Tells you what phenomena to watch for and gives you a countdown to those things.

"8 minutes to totality...start looking for strange animal behavior" etc.

Most importantly it has a "glasses off" (filters too) and "glasses on" prompt.

Well worth the $1.99 price tag.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/foxwood-astronomy-announces-new-and-improved-talking-solar-eclipse-timer-app-300497002.html

James Slick Loc: Pittsburgh,PA

I've been leary of pointing any lens towards the sun, welders, ETC. Comes from using early 80s video cameras with pickup tubes. Expensive as hell and fear of "burning" the tube meant not aiming at anything brighter than a 40 lamp. Surely my eyes are worth at least that care!👍

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Even welders goggles are not safe enough. I once built a long box with a reflecting white surface at a 45 degree angle for viewing the sun. No lens as when one is focused a hole will get burnt.

James Slick Loc: Pittsburgh,PA

Los-Angeles-Shooter Loc: Los Angeles

arc welding shields are good; gas welding goggles are not.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Thanks for the clarification. I had forgot about gas welding.

dragonswing Loc: Pa

I will look at other people's photos--not going to chance damaging my eyes. Not worth it.

salmander

During the total eclipse part, when the Sun is completely covered, you can look at with the naked eye, as it has no more brightness than the Moon. I didn't know this until I looked it up. When the Sun starts reappearing, though....