There have been a lot of questions lately about what the safest ways are to view Monday's eclipse. It goes without saying that you can't look at the sun directly with just the naked eye and these are some of the dangers that can happen if you don't protect yourself.
"When we're getting that direct concentrated sunlight focused right into the back of the eye, you can have burns which can cause blind spots or vision loss that may or may not ever be reversible," said Optometrist Crystal Thanos.
Some people have even asked if it’s okay to squint or block some of the sunlight with your hands.
"You're still getting too much sunlight entering into the eye, that could still cause damage and cause solar retinopathy," said Thanos.
So there's no safe way to look at the eclipse directly with just your eyes, and sunglasses are no better.
“If they have polarized sunglasses or if they take a stack of sunglasses like stack three, four or five of them together, that's not going to be safe enough," said Thanos.
Welding lenses can be safe enough depending on the shade. Any shade 13 and lower is not recommended by Airgas manager Matt Moriarty.
“Don’t do it, it's not dark enough,” said Moriarty.
A certified pair of eclipse sunglasses can also work, but there are still precautions that need to be taken.
"Keep them on the whole time and another thing is even if you have the eclipse glasses you shouldn't be just sitting there staring directly at it," said Thanos.
The solar eclipse is a moment that you may never want to forget but before you go taking that picture make sure that you get the appropriate lens to protect not just your eyes but also your camera.
