The black spot in her vision and the corresponding damage on her retina were mirror images of the eclipse itself. It can happen even when the sun is obscured by the moon during a solar eclipse, because many of the sun’s rays still reach the Earth. According to Deobhakta, no previously published research showed what it found in patients whose eyes were damaged by a solar eclipse. “What we found is that the sun’s rays had damaged the photoreceptor layer in a very specific pattern, like a crescent,” Deobhakta said. Dr. Vike Vicente, an ophthalmologist with Eye Doctors of Washington, answers questions about how to safely watch the solar eclipse.

Source: Washington Post December 08, 2017 08:49 UTC