Northern Wyoming News - Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years

WORLAND - According to the greatamericaneclipse.com, the last total solar eclipse in the 48 continental United States was in 1979. In 1979, solar eclipse glasses were not available as they are today.

Dr. Kirby Treat of Clear Image Vision in Worland said back in the 1970s, to view a solar eclipse safely one had to build a pinhole projector where the person basically watched the shadow of the eclipse.

Why worry about using a pinhole project or getting glasses? Because it is never safe to look directly at the sun, Treat said.

The main risk from looking directly at the sun is a person can permanently damage their eyes. Depending on the length of time a person stares at the sun, they can get permanent blind spots or go completely blind.

"It's not safe to even glance at the sun without a proper filter," Treat said, adding that regular sunglasses do not have the appropriate filter.

"When you look at the sun the light is so intense and focused it burns your retina. Once the retina is burned there is no treatment and no way to reverse the damage.

"You can sunburn the surface of your eyes, by glare from water or other reflective services, from a flash burn from welding, but that's difference than looking at the sun when you can burn your retina," Treat said. Burning the retina kills the nerve tissue in the eye, he said.

Treat said the eclipse glasses can be a safe way to view the eclipse but only during short periods. He said even with the glasses people should not stare at the sun for long periods of time.

The glasses must be rated with an ISO 12312-2. Treat said the glasses are not expensive and are readily available with several area stores carrying them and they are readily available online.

He said the glasses, however, must be in pristine condition with no scratches as that will compromise their effectiveness.

People wearing the glasses should put them on before looking up at the sun, not while they are looking. Make sure the eyes are protected before looking at the solar eclipse, he added.

According to the American Astronomical Society, "the solar eclipse will be visible across all of North America. The whole continent will experience a partial eclipse lasting two to three hours. Halfway through the event, anyone within a roughly 70-mile-wide path from Oregon to South Caroline will experience a brief total eclipse when the moon completely blocks the sun's bright face for up to 2 minutes and 40 seconds."

Treat noted that only during the time when there is a total solar eclipse can anyone look directly at the sun. The time for the total solar eclipse varies depending on a person's location. In Thermopolis the time will be about 53 seconds on Aug. 21. At Boysen State Park and Casper the time will be more than two minutes.

For those in Worland and north of Thermopolis, which is at the edge of the band of totality, there will not be a total solar eclipse so it will not be safe to look directly at the sun.

Treat said solar eclipse or not, people need to protect their eyes from the sun and sunglasses help but they must block ultraviolet A and ultraviolet B rays.

People with too much UV exposure can be at risk for cataracts, dry eyes or macular degeneration.

Symptoms of solar blindness include a complete loss of eyesight or sudden change in eyesight.

Treat said people also need to be careful when attempting to take photos of the sun or eclipse without the proper filter for the camera and proper eyewear when looking through the camera.

Those without glasses or a pinhole projector can make one with their hands. According to the AAS, cross the outstretched, slightly open fingers of one hand over the outstretched, slightly open fingers of the other. With your back to the sun, look at your hands' shadow on the ground. The little spaces between your fingers will project a grid of small images on the ground, showing the sun as a crescent during the partial phases of the eclipse."