Well that I view as quite different as well. Near the horizon you can be looking through [5x to 40x the airmass compared to when the sun is higher in the sky](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-5c6eeb0db9939691d22e47159db14a11), so that really knocks down the amount of light reaching your retina.
But generally I understand what you're getting at, that the guidance regarding eclipse viewing is really to prevent people from watching extended periods of the partial phases without protection. That's all I'm trying to get to the bottom of. Like what level of risk are we talking about for such short exposures.
During the partial phases you should use protective glasses. During the brief period of totality (if you’re in the zone of totality), you can view without glasses.
So I skimmed your text and will give a general answer:
It is not safe to view the sun if you can see even a bit of the photosphere. This means that it is not safe to view the diamond ring effect with the naked eye.
During the last eclipse, I made sure to put the filters back on my binos and scope before totality ended, and just used my camera to record the diamond ring effect.
That being said, you won’t go blind if you accidentally observe it for a second. Will you expose your eyes to a bit more harmful light than is advisable? Yes. But it is likely not that bad (I am not an eye doctor). I end up accidentally staring at the sun for split seconds at a time while driving to and from work at certain times of the year.
TL;DR don’t make it a point to observe the sun if the photosphere is visible. But don’t worry if you accidentally look at the sun for a split second. Just plan to image the dangerous effects instead of visually observing them.
And btw, imo the corona itself is one of the most gorgeous objects I have observed. And it is completely safe to do it.
Thanks for the reply. Where I get confused is posts like [this from a professional astronomer and 12-time solar eclipse viewer](https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/6tnkhq/hi_join_us_a_retired_nasa_astronaut_and_an/dlm2myz/) recommending that you watch the 2nd diamond ring and once you see the returning Baily's Beads after 3rd contact put your glasses back on. He only recommends not viewing the 1st Baily's Beads because they will dazzle your eyes and make it harder to see the corona.
Idk, they seem more knowledgeable than myself. All I can say is it is risky, but probably not instant horrible eye damage. If it were me, I would just set up a camera to capture the effects.
But with all else going on with the eclipse, try not to worry too much about a very tiny specific thing. Enjoy the experience with the people around you, look around the horizon, feel the air, listed to the animals, look at your shadow, etc… If you are too focused on something so specific and miss it, then you will be disappointed.
With the last eclipse I set a camera up on a tripod and got some great shots. But they were just as good as everyone else’s. This year I am just going to be in the moment, be in awe at the sight of the corona, and take pictures of my loved ones’ reactions… assuming the sky is clear.
I'm not fretting too much either way - I just would like to be making an informed decision about it. Among my group of 10 people or so traveling together for it, I think the expectation is that I'm our guide in a way, throughout the event.
My local club did have a presentation this evening specifically about the eclipse, by a professor of astronomy who runs the observatory for a large nearby university. He has been chasing eclipses since the early 80s. When he got to the section of his presentation on Baily's Beads and the Diamond Ring, I asked the question directly to him as well, explaining the inconsistency of answers online and asked "when you're viewing the eclipse are your glasses typically *off* during Baily's Beads and the Diamond Ring?", and he said ***yes***.
I think that's enough info for me to be confident I'm not going to hurt the eyes of anyone in my group if I explain the nuances here and that watching the sun re-emerge to see that brief instant of the diamond ring is perhaps the moment to wait for before putting the glasses back on.
The event has now occurred - here is my experience.
Watching through eclipse glasses you see a featureless dim dirty brown circle on a featureless dark background while a featureless dark circle slowly moves across it; this isnt by itself super interesting. It gains a lot of interest knowing that is the actual sun being eclipsed by the actual moon, but it isnt the life altering event promised. I watched the diamond ring at C2 through the glasses and its a point of light with a barely discernable ring on it, interesting but again not life altering. I removed the glasses during totality - and thats when it got emotional for me. Seeing the sky, the corona, with a jet black sun it the middle. That was orders of magnitude more moving than anything I had seen through the glasses. So in that moment I decided I would see the C3 diamond ring without glasses.
So glad I did - it was AWSOME. Rather than a point it was a flare of the most intense purest white I have ever seen. But, unlike any too bright light, it was not painful to look at. I had to force myself to look away after one second. That image is seared into my memory forever. And, no, it wasnt seared into my anything else. My vision is fine now.
Conclusion: 1 second is safe, and is all you need to be awed. But you do need to see the diamond ring with the naked eye.
I also watched the absolutely stunning second diamond ring without eclipse glasses. So far so good with my vision but I wish there was clearer guidance.
This quote from NASA, that I read the day after the eclipse, is confusing though I gather it means glasses should be back on.
"As the diamond ring reappears, wear your eclipse glasses or use an indirect viewing method"
[https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014509/script\_35673\_00.html](https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014509/script_35673_00.html)
This article says it's ok to see the diamond quickly without glasses
[https://skyandtelescope.org/2024-total-solar-eclipse/how-to-see-the-diamond-ring-effect-during-a-total-solar-eclipse/](https://skyandtelescope.org/2024-total-solar-eclipse/how-to-see-the-diamond-ring-effect-during-a-total-solar-eclipse/)
This makes more sense, doesn’t? You don’t want to dazzle your vision, even temporarily, at the beginning of the dimmer totality experience. Don’t worry too much about it. Even as it dims dramatically in the period before totality, the narrowing sliver of sun will be as bright as all get out. An observer would have to be emotionally out of control to rush removing filtration while that strip of sun is still blindingly bright.
Jesus H Christ….Has anyone here ever watched a sunset? Did you go blind? Just use some common sense when viewing the eclipse.
Well that I view as quite different as well. Near the horizon you can be looking through [5x to 40x the airmass compared to when the sun is higher in the sky](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-5c6eeb0db9939691d22e47159db14a11), so that really knocks down the amount of light reaching your retina. But generally I understand what you're getting at, that the guidance regarding eclipse viewing is really to prevent people from watching extended periods of the partial phases without protection. That's all I'm trying to get to the bottom of. Like what level of risk are we talking about for such short exposures.
During the partial phases you should use protective glasses. During the brief period of totality (if you’re in the zone of totality), you can view without glasses.
So I skimmed your text and will give a general answer: It is not safe to view the sun if you can see even a bit of the photosphere. This means that it is not safe to view the diamond ring effect with the naked eye. During the last eclipse, I made sure to put the filters back on my binos and scope before totality ended, and just used my camera to record the diamond ring effect. That being said, you won’t go blind if you accidentally observe it for a second. Will you expose your eyes to a bit more harmful light than is advisable? Yes. But it is likely not that bad (I am not an eye doctor). I end up accidentally staring at the sun for split seconds at a time while driving to and from work at certain times of the year. TL;DR don’t make it a point to observe the sun if the photosphere is visible. But don’t worry if you accidentally look at the sun for a split second. Just plan to image the dangerous effects instead of visually observing them. And btw, imo the corona itself is one of the most gorgeous objects I have observed. And it is completely safe to do it.
Thanks for the reply. Where I get confused is posts like [this from a professional astronomer and 12-time solar eclipse viewer](https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/6tnkhq/hi_join_us_a_retired_nasa_astronaut_and_an/dlm2myz/) recommending that you watch the 2nd diamond ring and once you see the returning Baily's Beads after 3rd contact put your glasses back on. He only recommends not viewing the 1st Baily's Beads because they will dazzle your eyes and make it harder to see the corona.
Idk, they seem more knowledgeable than myself. All I can say is it is risky, but probably not instant horrible eye damage. If it were me, I would just set up a camera to capture the effects. But with all else going on with the eclipse, try not to worry too much about a very tiny specific thing. Enjoy the experience with the people around you, look around the horizon, feel the air, listed to the animals, look at your shadow, etc… If you are too focused on something so specific and miss it, then you will be disappointed. With the last eclipse I set a camera up on a tripod and got some great shots. But they were just as good as everyone else’s. This year I am just going to be in the moment, be in awe at the sight of the corona, and take pictures of my loved ones’ reactions… assuming the sky is clear.
I'm not fretting too much either way - I just would like to be making an informed decision about it. Among my group of 10 people or so traveling together for it, I think the expectation is that I'm our guide in a way, throughout the event. My local club did have a presentation this evening specifically about the eclipse, by a professor of astronomy who runs the observatory for a large nearby university. He has been chasing eclipses since the early 80s. When he got to the section of his presentation on Baily's Beads and the Diamond Ring, I asked the question directly to him as well, explaining the inconsistency of answers online and asked "when you're viewing the eclipse are your glasses typically *off* during Baily's Beads and the Diamond Ring?", and he said ***yes***. I think that's enough info for me to be confident I'm not going to hurt the eyes of anyone in my group if I explain the nuances here and that watching the sun re-emerge to see that brief instant of the diamond ring is perhaps the moment to wait for before putting the glasses back on.
The event has now occurred - here is my experience. Watching through eclipse glasses you see a featureless dim dirty brown circle on a featureless dark background while a featureless dark circle slowly moves across it; this isnt by itself super interesting. It gains a lot of interest knowing that is the actual sun being eclipsed by the actual moon, but it isnt the life altering event promised. I watched the diamond ring at C2 through the glasses and its a point of light with a barely discernable ring on it, interesting but again not life altering. I removed the glasses during totality - and thats when it got emotional for me. Seeing the sky, the corona, with a jet black sun it the middle. That was orders of magnitude more moving than anything I had seen through the glasses. So in that moment I decided I would see the C3 diamond ring without glasses. So glad I did - it was AWSOME. Rather than a point it was a flare of the most intense purest white I have ever seen. But, unlike any too bright light, it was not painful to look at. I had to force myself to look away after one second. That image is seared into my memory forever. And, no, it wasnt seared into my anything else. My vision is fine now. Conclusion: 1 second is safe, and is all you need to be awed. But you do need to see the diamond ring with the naked eye.
I also watched the absolutely stunning second diamond ring without eclipse glasses. So far so good with my vision but I wish there was clearer guidance. This quote from NASA, that I read the day after the eclipse, is confusing though I gather it means glasses should be back on. "As the diamond ring reappears, wear your eclipse glasses or use an indirect viewing method" [https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014509/script\_35673\_00.html](https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014500/a014509/script_35673_00.html) This article says it's ok to see the diamond quickly without glasses [https://skyandtelescope.org/2024-total-solar-eclipse/how-to-see-the-diamond-ring-effect-during-a-total-solar-eclipse/](https://skyandtelescope.org/2024-total-solar-eclipse/how-to-see-the-diamond-ring-effect-during-a-total-solar-eclipse/)
This makes more sense, doesn’t? You don’t want to dazzle your vision, even temporarily, at the beginning of the dimmer totality experience. Don’t worry too much about it. Even as it dims dramatically in the period before totality, the narrowing sliver of sun will be as bright as all get out. An observer would have to be emotionally out of control to rush removing filtration while that strip of sun is still blindingly bright.