How does the suns rays damage your eyes?!
Question:
How does the suns rays damage your eyes?
By accident I looked at the soon when I was trying to see a ball falling from the sky and I am worried I will go blind please give me the facts about the sun and eyes.
Answers:
When I was a kid I used to get a magnifying glass during the summer and go around outside burning holes in things like paper, etc. No, I am not a closet arsonist. The magnifying glass by being what is call a "high plus" lens is able to focus all the energy from the sun into an extremely small point focus. If held still for a period of time, this raises the temperature at the focal point so high as to be able to burn paper. Well, the cornea and lens in you eyes are "high plus" lenses. Just like the magnifying glass these plus lenses are capable of taking the energy from the sun and focusing it on the most sensitive part of your retina called the macula. If you just glance at the sun you will definitely be dazzled by the brightnes but the tissue will not have been exposed to the heat long enough to cause any damage. BUT, if you stare at the sun long enough it can burn a hole smack dab in the middle of your retina. I have seen a couple of these cases in my practice and the patient has had significant decrease in visual acuity. Depending upon the severity of the burn there may improvement over time. But if the burn is deep enough or large enough the patient may have long term vision loss. Hope this helped.