Woman Who Looked at Solar Eclipse Now Has Moon-Shaped Blind Spot in Her Eye
Mount Sinai clinicians said the injury left destroyed photoreceptors in her central retina and no treatment exists.
- On August 21, 2017, 26-year-old Nia Payne looked at the sun for six seconds in Staten Island, New York, using inadequate eclipse glasses, permanently damaging her vision.
- Concentrated sunlight destroys photoreceptors through thermal and photochemical damage, causing solar retinopathy; Payne's eye lens focused the crescent-shaped sun onto her retina, permanently imprinting that blind spot.
- Researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital, led by Dr. Avnish Deobhakta, used adaptive optics imaging to confirm the crescent-shaped pattern of destroyed photoreceptors matched the eclipse in a JAMA Ophthalmology study.
- Solar retinopathy has no medical treatment, leaving the crescent-shaped blind spot permanently in the center of Payne's vision; she retrained herself to rely on her right eye.
- While tens of millions safely viewed the 2017 eclipse, the American Astronomical Society warned that unprotected viewing carries risk; ISO-12312-2 certified filters are essential to prevent permanent eye damage.
13 Articles
13 Articles
In 2017, a woman watched a solar eclipse for seconds. Days later, she discovered an eclipse-shaped blind spot in her eye
Science News: On the afternoon of 21 August 2017, millions of people across the United States looked towards the Sun as the Moon moved across it. For most viewers, .
Mercedes López warns of the risks of observing eclipses after being almost blinded by a childish challenge at a school in Almería.
Mercedes López Romero, who was a deputy in the Andaluz Parliament, suffers from a blindness of 90% after looking directly into the sun when he was eight years old.
Mercedes López Romero, who was a representative of Citizens in the Andalusian Parliament and who suffers a blindness of 90 percent for having looked at the...
The injuries from sunburn appeared six years after observing, without protection, the astronomical phenomenon
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