Solar Eclipse

hedonist said:

My husband laughed at me for that too

But the odd change in timing of light could mess with them in ways.  I heard that birds and other animals might revert to nocturnal behaviors.

It really is amazing how perceptive animals are and how tuned into the slightest changes they are.  Just last night I sat down by the screen door and was looking out into the night and Annie came up next to me.  Suddenly she jerked her head around, eyes wide open, ears cocked forward on the alert.  What the heck?  It was after midnight and I couldn't hear a thing out there but she was fully aware of every little thing going on.  I love that about animals!

rgambs said:

HesCalledDyer said:

Will polarized lenses be safe enough?

Depends on % of totality.  Essentially, no, not at all.
At 100 there's no problem with naked eye.  Anything below that and there's danger.  
The problem is, you can get solar retinopathy without discomfort because there's is a slightly delayed inflammatory response that actually causes the retinopathy.  So maybe you look at a 90% eclipsed sun with sunglasses for 5 minutes and you don't feel bad, and then later it swells and hurts and you have permanent, irreversible vision loss.

I'm guessing we're probably in the same path of totality, about 75-80%.  My eyes are super sensitive to light to begin with, so I don't need to do any damage to them.  I usually wear sunglasses when it's slightly overcast and I have to use polarized lenses for driving.  I'll check with our maintenance dept and see if I can borrow some welding goggles.

hauntingfamiliar said:

Decided not to go to Charleston. We will watch it from my daughter's school instead. They are having a free eclipse party with different viewing options. Should be 96% here, but these afternoon showers might interfere.

Part of me says "thank you".  There are a gazillion people in Charleston right now.  

dankind said:

I just found out that the Cape Cod National Seashore has a whole event planned and that they'll have the glasses there. Fun activities for the kids, too. Boom!

Boom boom, out go the lights!

Workplace has some glasses here but I figure I'll either check it out from my office or just step outside for a few.

FoxyRedLa said:

Don't people look at the sun on and given day anyways.....?

I just looked at it.  For like 0.2 seconds.

FoxyRedLa said:

Don't people look at the sun on and given day anyways.....?

yes, but my understanding of it is, on a normal day, you can't look at the sun too long, as it's too bright.  your brain doesn't detect radiation damage to your eyes in pain form, so if you are looking at the eclipse, it won't be as bright, so you'll be able to look longer, but the damage will be the same. 

Kind of anti-climactic here.

Was it good for you?

Anybody else ever see the episode from the original Dragnet series where a hippie on LSD stares at the sun and goes blind?  It was supposed to be one of those episodes that scares kids away from drugs but it was so corny it probably did more to encourage drug use than not. 

I expected it to be really dark but not at all.  Glad I didn't leave the office for this.  Was cloudy I guess.