Source: Xinhua News Agency / Getty
WARNING: Do not look directly at the eclipse! But if you did, here’s what you can expect.
You may be wondering if you damaged your eyes.
So how long can you look before getting hurt? Not long, says Jacob Chung, Chief of Opthalmology at New Jersey’s Englewood Hospital. “If you look at it for a second or two, nothing will happen,” he said. “Five seconds, I’m not sure, but 10 seconds is probably too long, and 20 seconds is definitely too long.”
You won’t feel any pain if your eyes suffer damage, Chung said, because our retinas lack pain fibers. Retinas can’t heal themselves, either, he said, making permanent damage a possibility.
Any blurry vision won’t kick in for a day or two, after the affected area swells “like an egg yolk” Schecter said. It can take months, even a year, for eyes to return to normal, he said — if it they do at all.
“You would basically get a burn on your central vision,” Schecter said.
Source: Read more USATODAY.com
