Solar Eclipse 2017

IT IS BAD TO STARE AT THE SUN. PERIOD.

Many people have gotten PERMANENT EYE DAMAGE just from a few seconds of staring at the sun (includes flashing vision, blurry vision, and eye pain... and the damage is permanent). The photons emitted from the sun are energetic and numerous, and the chemical reactions occurring in your eye in response to those photons cause permanent cell death. I would hope you like your eyes since you only get one pair. Even during a total eclipse (remember that is NOT happening in California... look at the map below), it is damaging to look at the Sun. You cannot look at the Sun with sunglasses or any normal means. Even solar-glasses are dangerous, since ANY defect or scratch can let through an intense flood of light. A safe way to view is by looking at a projection instead. NASA is putting on the event on their website. It will be in a better location than we are, and it will use much better optical technology than anyone owns.

This is a rare time for viewing the eclipse, since its effect changes in geographic location and happens infrequently.