Way can't we view the solar eclipse with the naked eye?

Question

Way can't we view the solar eclipse with the naked eye?

Answer 1

You can, just not for very long as you'll suffer serious eye damage and probably not be able to see much anymore.

Answer 2

you cant view it because you're staring at the sun, and if you stare at the sun too much it can damage your vision.  

Answer 3

  The intense light and radiation would destroy your cornea and blind you.

Answer 4

During the totality it is safe to look at a solar eclipse, it is looking at the sun itself which will be harmful to your eyesight.  During totality the sun is covered by the moon so you cannot see it.  Watching even during partial eclipse is not safe, but at totality is OK.

Answer 5

Because the sun is too bright and can do permanent damage to your eyes.

Answer 6

You can't look at a SE directly or you'll get major eye damage!!

To safely view a Solar Eclipse, prepare a box as shown, with a pinhole (perhaps in aluminum foil covering a larger hole in the box) at one end and a white sheet of paper at the other end, inside. Standing, with your back to the Sun and your head inside the box, allow the Sun's light to shine through the pinhole and observe a small image of the Solar Eclipse on the white sheet of paper. NEVER look through the pinhole at the Sun or a Solar Eclipse; this could cause MAJOR EYE DAMAGE and POSSIBLE BLINDNESS !

If you cannot find a box, you can also use two pieces of cardboard. Place a pinhole in one piece of cardboard. Standing with your back to the Sun, allow the light from the eclipse to shine through the pinhole and project onto the second piece of cardboard, where you will see a small image of the solar eclipse. Again, NEVER look through the pinhole at the Sun or a Solar Eclipse; this could cause MAJOR EYE DAMAGE and POSSIBLE BLINDNESS !

Another safe way to view a solar eclipse would be to check with a local planetarium, astronomical observatory, Science center or museum, the Astronomy or Physics Department at a local college or university, or amateur astronomers' club. Sometimes, one or more of these organizations will sponsor an observing session of a solar eclipse, utilizing professional equipment operated by trained astronomers.

http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/SolarE...

Answer 7

Looking directly at the photosphere of the Sun (the bright disk of the Sun itself), even for just a few seconds, can cause permanent damage to the retina of the eye, because of the intense visible and invisible radiation that the photosphere emits. This damage can result in permanent impairment of vision, up to and including blindness. The retina has no sensitivity to pain, and the effects of retinal damage may not appear for hours, so there is no warning that injury is occurring.

Answer 8

Hi Hot!

There's a lot of popular misconceptions about this.

I saw the 2006 total eclipse of the sun from Turkey.  I looked at the eclipse, both total and partial, and I suffered no eye damage.

There's a popular misconception that during an eclipse the sun emits some sort of unusual light that can blind you in as little as a blink.  But the sun's light is no different during an eclipse than any other time.

Others have heard that people stare at the partially eclipsed sun and go blind that way.  I tried to resolve the thin crescent of sun with my unaided eye, but I couldn't.  It's too dazzling, and even an instant before totality you simply can't make out anything other than the usual featureless ball of light.  

And I found that I couldn't stare at it.  My eyes would not let me, much as I can't stare at the sun any other time.

The hazard is this:  Staring at the sun will harm eyes.  You can do it during an eclipse of the sun or lying on the beach in Florida.  But fleeting glances at the sun will not cause blindness.  Your own eyes will let you know that you can't look at the sun for more than a fleeting glance.

Now, I've heard the stories about how people got spots on the retina from staring at the dazzling sun during a partial eclipse, and I'll provisionally grant that these are genuine reports from qualified people who are not exaggerating in a belief that the end justifies the means.  But I'll tell you that I looked up at the sun several times during partial eclipses (not stared, but brief glances until my own eyes told me that it was useless) and I suffered no harm.

I found that much as I wanted to see that crescent of sun with my own unaided eye, the only way I could actually resolve anything was with my welders glasses.

Answer 9

NEVER look at the sun without eye protection deemed sufficient for doing just that.  Even during an eclipse.

Usually it is not hard to find cheap, cardboard glasses that have lenses made to look at the eclipse safely in an area where one is expected.

Answer 10

bcuz you will wreck your eyes. why do ppl keep asking this question?

think about what you are risking and act accordingly.

Answer 11

You can. Go ahead.  No one is stopping you.  Of course your vision won't ever be the same again, but you will always have the satisfaction of having disobeyed "the man".  I'm sure that will be a great satisfaction as you stumble around in near blindness for the rest of your life.