Look up, look way up, to catch the solar eclipse in Waterloo region, Guelph and area
CBC
People will have their eyes on the skies on Monday for the solar eclipse.
But when doing so, make sure you're viewing it safely and wearing the proper eye protection.
Dr. Ralph Chou, a professor emeritus in optometry and vision science at the University of Waterloo, is one of the world's foremost experts on eclipse eye safety. He warns looking at an eclipse with your bare eyes, even for a short period of time, could cause long-term damage.
"If you look at the sun and it's glowing disc is still visible, then you run the risk of essentially overloading the photoreceptor cells at the back of the eye, the cones particularly. And if enough solar energy or sunlight reaches those cells, they could possibly lead to damage at the back of the eye, what we call solar retinopathy," Chou said in an interview with Craig Norris, host of CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition.
Chou says people may not notice the damage they've done to their eyes right away because there's no pain sensation associated with this kind of eye injury.
"You can do a lot of damage without knowing," he said.
"They look at the eclipse, everything's fine, they go to bed, everything was still fine. Wake up in the morning, 'Oh, I can't see my face in the bathroom mirror. I can't see whoever it is sitting across the table from me at breakfast. I can't read my cell phone display' because the very centre of your vision, which is responsible for that high resolution view of the world, has been damaged and just isn't functioning anymore."
WATCH | CBC News Special: The Eclipse in Canada:
The solar eclipse is expected to last two and a half hours:
Region of Waterloo Public Health is also reminding people not to look at the sun directly and to use only safe solar eclipse viewers that meet international standard ISO 12312-2.
"Keep a close eye on children during a solar eclipse. Their eyes let in more light to the retina than adult eyes, so they are at higher risk of harm if they look at the sun without proper eye protection," public health says on its website.
"Do not use homemade filters, sunglasses, camera lenses, smoked glass, photographic or x-ray film, or other things that are not specifically made for viewing eclipses. This includes devices used in combination with a binocular or telescope to view a solar eclipse."
People will no doubt be eager to take photos of the eclipse and share it on social media.
This isn't a surprise to Amy Friend, an associate professor in the visual arts department at Brock University in St. Catharines.
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