Total solar eclipse 2024: Can viewing eclipse cause blindness?

The dangers of staring into the sun during a solar eclipse have even showed in movies in like the 2009 film "2012," and colonial times, in which a sailor went blind after watching a partial eclipse, or even cases in modern times like the one reported by USA Today.

One of the ophthalmologists met a terrible case, in which a young woman, aged 26 years old, was suffering in 2017. Although she was unaware of it, she had placed the solar eclipse glasses on and as a consequence, the eclipse's imprint was a permanent characteristic of her eyes. 

This bizarre story called by doctors from Mount Sinai's New York Eye and Ear Institute for reporting in JAMA Ophthalmology, illustrating the rarity of these cases, is sure to make people think twice before judging things so hastily.

Dr Avnish Deobhakta, the ophthalmologist in the attending position, made the dangerous nature of direct solar exposure clear; it can permanently and inalterably damage the retina. A retinal lesion mimicking an eclipse was given as an example.

Even though you are mostly allowed to view a total solar eclipse with your naked eye, without special protection such as solar filters or suitable glasses, a complete eclipse of the Sun or partial eclipse may lead to long-term damaging effects such as long-term eye impairment.

Warnings from both medical experts and experienced eclipses during the lead for the April 8 solar eclipse encouraged them to be cautious while viewing the eclipse.