To allay such fears, the Director-General of the National Space and Research Agency, Dr. Seidu Mohammed, advised Nigerians to note that the eclipse is a natural event that should not bring about undue panic. He urged all Nigerians to remain calm as the eclipse would not hinder normal activities. However, it is necessary to warn that people should not look skyward during the occurrence without proper protection for the eyes. An article published on space stressed that a fraction of a second of magnified, unfiltered sunlight would burn the retina of the eye irreparably. The effect feels like having a horrible sunburn on the eyeball. The eye cannot grow new layers by peeling off the burnt layer like the skin does. Therefore, staring directly at the sun is dangerous without the protection of safety equipment used by veteran sky watchers and astronomers. In essence, looking directly at the sun can lead to permanent eye damage or blindness. Therefore special eye protection or indirect viewing techniques should be used when viewing the solar eclipse. One crude solution is to look skyward by holding a green beer bottle above the eyes. Alternatively, a person can pour water in a wide plastic bowl and look at the water surface to observe the eclipse at it occurs.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 15:54:22 +0000
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