Enjoy last night's solar eclipse? How to tell if it could have PERMANENTLY ... trends now
It was dubbed the biggest astronomical event of the decade.
An estimated 32million people enjoyed one of the most spectacular sights visible from the Earth, as a solar eclipse swept across North America on Monday.
Videos shared on social media showed people watching the greying sky to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon which left only the outer atmosphere of the sun visible, briefly turning the outdoors dark in daytime.
But without proper precautions, like special eclipse glasses, spectators could have permanently damaged their eyes, experts warned.
'My eyes are now boiling and my neck is suspiciously sore,' one X user admitted in Manitoba, Canada.
An estimated 32million people enjoyed one of the most spectacular sights visible from the Earth, as a solar eclipse swept across North America on Monday. Above, people view Monday's solar eclipse from Times Square in New York on April 8, 2024
Videos shared on social media showed people watching the greying sky to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon which left only the outer atmosphere of the sun visible, briefly turning the outdoors dark in daytime. Pictured, people use protective glasses to observe the eclipse at the Masters in Augusta, Georgia
'My eyes are now boiling and my neck is suspiciously sore,' one X user admitted in Manitoba, Canada. Others complained of 'sore eyes', with Google searches trending steeply upwards after the event
Others complained of 'sore eyes', with Google searches trending steeply upwards after the event.
According to NASA, your retina 'can be damaged even before you realize it and by then it can be too late to save your vision'.
'Even a few seconds of viewing the sun during an eclipse can temporarily or permanently burn the macula,' said Johns Hopkins ophthalmologists Neil Bressler, Jun Kong and Fernando Arévalo ahead of the solar eclipse.
'Once retina tissue is destroyed, it cannot regenerate, resulting in permanent central vision loss.'
Considered one of the most vulnerable regions of the retina, the macula plays a key role in discerning details like written text.
The result of damage to the macula can be uncanny: seeing one's own face as blank in a mirror or being unable to make out words in a newspaper, as if it were blank.
All it takes is about 100 seconds of exposure for solar radiation to cause damage to a person's retina, although times will vary based on the intensity of the sun, which can vary by time of day and geography, and the preexisting condition of a person's eyes.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) recommend concerned individuals look out for 'visual symptoms within four to six hours' or even the day after the solar eclipse.
Some may also notice signs after 12 hours.
Symptoms of injury commonly include headaches, blurred vision, a 'blind spot' in one or both eyes, eye sensitivity or visual distortions.
Those distortions can be particularly unusual, making objects appear smaller than they actually are, or creating funhouse
