In honor of this once in a lifetime celestial event, our previously scheduled deep dive into diagnostic eye testing equipment for this month’s blog will be postponed. We will return to our regularly scheduled programming next month!

If you are somehow unaware that Vermont will be directly in the path of totality for the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8^th, 2024, then you have definitely been living in a snow cave all winter!

From 3:20pm to 3:30pm on April 8^th, the moon will appear to completely cover the sun, and those of us lucky enough to be in the “path of totality” will be plunged into complete or partial darkness in the middle of the day for up to three-and-a-half minutes.

Because of the curvature of the earth and the position of the sun relative to time of year and location, not everyone will see a total solar eclipse on April 8^th; only those in the “path of totality” will see the moon completely cover the sun.

For this event, most of northern Vermont will be in that direct path. The path of totality will span the Adirondacks and the St. Lawrence Valley, including Montreal, as well as all of northwestern Vermont, Burlington, the Northeast Kingdom, and as far south as Middlebury, Montpelier and St. Johnsbury. Southern Vermont will only see a partial eclipse of the sun.

Staring At the Sun – Solar Retinopathy

It is hammered into all of us not to ever stare directly at the sun at any time of the year, eclipse or otherwise. A brief glimpse is generally enough to understand why, as the sun is exceptionally bright and painful to look at.

That pain, as it were, has a name; it’s called Solar Retinopathy. Solar retinopathy, often called eclipse retinopathy because people are drawn to look at the sun more readily during an eclipse, refers to the injury caused to the macular tissue, particularly the retina, caused by looking directly at the sun.

In laymen’s terms, staring at the sun literally burns cells off the retina, causing partial or even permanent blindness depending on the levels of exposure. Even relatively short exposure to direct, unfiltered sunlight, as little as a few seconds, can cause solar retinopathy.

Are Solar Eclipses Brighter

In reality, the solar eclipse is no brighter than the unobscured sun on any given day. The difference is simply that because the moon is blocking the sun, the sun appears to be less intense allowing for you to stare directly at it for up to 10-minutes without noticing any immediate effects.

The truth is that while you can stare directly at a solar eclipse and it’s REALLY COOL to look at, the damage to your eyes is no different than if you were staring at the sun completely unobstructed. It’s just much more difficult to do that without the moon seemingly standing in the way.

Eclipse Glasses - Not Just Sunglasses

In short, specialized eclipse viewing glasses can be 1,000 times darker than traditional sunglasses, allowing for extended viewing of the eclipse. Standard sunglasses allow filter the indirect sunlight all around us on a sunny day, but don’t allow for safely staring directly at the sun.

Eclipse glasses and viewers are made of mylar, a polyester film, and are designed to block out 100% of harmful ultra-violet rays, 100% of infrared rays, and 99.999% of intense visible light. Traditional UV-protective sunglasses block 75% to 90% visible light and 99% of ultraviolet radiation, but do not block infrared light.

Eclipse glasses are readily available online and at local retailers across the state. Even Avoid “counterfeit eclipse glasses,” which are flooding the market. Look only for glasses certified by the American Astronomical Society, with an ISO standard of 12312-2. Do not buy eclipse glasses that claim to be certified by NASA, as they do not certify eclipse viewing glasses.

Total solar eclipses are not common occurrences! This is the first time since 1932 and the last until 2106 that northern Vermont will be in the “path of totality”, so it truly may be a once in a lifetime event not to be missed!

Happy Solar Eclipse from Optical Expressions