How dangerous is it to watch a solar eclipse without proper dark glasses? I recall a Feynman story where he watched the first nuclear bomb test without eye protection, just through the window of a truck. Under the theory that normal glass filters most UV light.
Amazon recalls eclipse glasses
131–140 of 255 posts
Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses
#132Does anyone have good recommendations for getting a pair as of today (before next weekend)? I'm in the bay area, if that helps.
To be honest, it isn't that impressive unless you see the totality, in which case you need no glasses. Completely worth the trip out of the way if you can go see it.
Even in totality, the coolest part for me (1999 eclipse) wasn't the visuals - it was the way you could feel the cold/shadow set in during the eclipse.
Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses
#133> "We want customers to buy with confidence anytime they make a purchase on Amazon.com" That's a bit rich, what with the 2nd hand camera lens scam the other day and all.
I once took for granted that that was in Amzn's best interests and thus their goal, but it really just seems like they're hoping to bank on consumar ignorance/apathy and being the biggest game in town.
It sucks because I recently picked up an amzn gift card from a change conversion machine (my bank now requires you roll your change yourself and I discovered those machines are fee-free if you use them for a giftcard), but I've fewer and fewer needs from Amzn now.
Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses
#134Better now than the 22nd. Bravo Amazon. The walmart i know still has them for $1.
And as we all know, Walmart is a paragon of valuing quality over cost
Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't it somewhat on the sellers who are willing to blind people for a buck? That's not ok even in China.
They put some sort of deadly chemical in baby milk to make it more frothy, because that's a sign of more protein... they don't give a shit ("they" being some turbo-capitalists...).
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Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses
#136I ordered the top-rated eclipse glasses on Amazon a few months ago and they were counterfeit. If you put them on during daytime you can see indirect sunlight and even my kitchen light. They were shipped from China despite having "Made in the USA" markings and all the proper ISO certification fine print. I haven't received any communication from Amazon, so people who haven't heard from them should not assume their gla…
As a comparison to the counterfeits, I took some pictures of my 'real' Soluna glasses, which I ordered a couple weeks ago from Amazon (and didn't get an email.) Also they pass the manufacturer's tests for verifying real glasses. 100 W equivalent CFL is very dimly visible.
Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses
#137A viable safe test would be a clear (unfrosted) incandescent or halogen bulb on a rheostat. Glasses on, bulb off, turn up the brightness somewhat slowly. You should be able to look directly at the filament comfortably if you have good glasses. If you have fakes, as long as you ramp up brightness slow enough, your natural response to squint will kick in before you wreck your retinas. You definitely do not want to test…
How does it test the fact that glasses block UV part of the spectrum? That is where the damage is coming from not from the the visible part.
Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
They won't until consumers wise up. I've stopped using them completely, not worth the gamble. Their price advantage has eroded anyways. I don't see any advantage to buying from them relative to straight from the manufacturer most of the time. Amazon has done a great job squeezing shipping costs and margins. I doubt I pay more than 5% more on anything but I know I'm not getting any fakes
Amazon is de-facto a monopoly. The "invisible hand" does not apply here.
No, Amazon is not a monopoly, they are a very large and influential player. You can still buy eclipse glasses (and practically all other products) from other vendors, both physical and online. It may not be as smooth, cheap, fast or convenient as Amazon, but that's pretty damn far from the bar for a monopoly.
There was never any guarantee that the invisible hand would fix badness overnight, merely that it will nudge them in the right direction. Which it does.
Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses
#139How dangerous is it to watch a solar eclipse without proper dark glasses? I recall a Feynman story where he watched the first nuclear bomb test without eye protection, just through the window of a truck. Under the theory that normal glass filters most UV light.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_retinopathy
The damage is usually reversible.. loss of vision returns usually within 12 months.
Re: Amazon recalls eclipse glasses
#140Is there anything particularly dangerous about viewing the sun directly? When I was dumb and young I'd look at the sun for seconds at a time without any problems developing so far. Is the danger that an eclipse encourages you to stare at the sun without encountering any pain?
Just to add to the other replies, there's another thing very different about a partial eclipse vs. when you looked at the sun as a kid. You were looking at a full sun, not a smidgen of a sun. There was so much light hitting your eyes that they stopped down naturally, giving you some protection.
And there was so much bright light that you really couldn't look at it for very long without involuntarily looking away or closing your eyes. But of course if you kept looking at the sun no matter how much it hurt, you would damage your eyes.
In a partial eclipse, most of the sun is covered, and there is a lot less light reaching your eyes. So they don't stop down as much as they would for a normal full sun.
However, that fraction of the sun that is visible is just as bright as before! With such an interesting sight to look at, you will be much more tempted to stare. And with your pupils wide open, there is even more sunlight hitting that small area of your retina than there would have been in normal conditions.
Now if you are fortunate enough to experience the total eclipse, that is another matter entirely. It is perfectly safe to look at the solar corona during totality, even with binoculars! The corona is only about as bright as a full moon. The sun itself is completely blocked by the moon.