When the Moon begins to cover the Sun, the daylight changes, shadows become sharp and you feel like looking up. This is the moment when ophthalmologists start to worry. Looking directly at the Sun, even when it is partly covered, can damage the retina, the thin layer of cells at the back of the eye that turns light into images. And the damage does not hurt.
It is called solar retinopathy, or eclipse retinopathy when it arises this way: a lesion of the macula, the small central area of the retina used for reading and recognising faces, caused by a photochemical process2. Knowing how to protect your eyes from an eclipse matters because, once the damage has happened, there is no treatment of proven effectiveness6.
In brief
- Looking at the Sun during an eclipse can damage the macula, the central part of the retina: this is solar retinopathy1,2.
- The damage causes no pain; the most common symptoms are a spot or blurred area at the centre of vision and lines that appear distorted6.
- After the 1999 eclipse in the United Kingdom, 70 cases were reported; at six months no one still reported a loss of vision2.
- In other case series, small central spots remained for months or years, even when measured vision had returned to good3,5,6.
- Makeshift protection did not prevent the damage in several cases described: prevention remains the main tool1,3,4.
In this article
What solar retinopathy is
The intense light of the Sun, concentrated by the lens of the eye as by a magnifying glass, reaches a precise point of the retina, the fovea, at the centre of the macula. This is where the photoreceptors used for the finest vision are found. A 2018 review describes damage to the outer layers of the retina, that is, the photoreceptors and the pigmented epithelium that supports them, and recalls that it often affects young people, with a still-transparent lens, who have watched an eclipse1.
For diagnosis the most widely used test is optical coherence tomography, the OCT, which shows the lesion layer by layer even when the person does not remember having looked at the Sun1.
Why it does not hurt while it is happening
The retina has no pain receptors. This is why the damage cannot be felt while it happens: no burning, no signal prompting you to look away. The symptoms appear afterwards, and are mainly a dark or blurred spot at the centre of the visual field (ophthalmologists call it a scotoma), blurred vision and straight lines that seem crooked6. After the 1999 eclipse in the United Kingdom, half of the people affected went to see an ophthalmologist within two days2.
How extensive the damage is also depends on how the Sun was watched. In a series of 21 cases followed in India after the 1995 eclipse, lesions at the centre of the retina were linked to the length of the observation and to how many times the person had looked4.
What doctors saw after the eclipses
Eclipses are announced events, and this has allowed doctors to collect cases systematically.
The study
The 1999 eclipse in the United Kingdom
After the total eclipse of 11 August 1999, British ophthalmologists reported for three months, from July to September, all the cases of visual problems due to watching the Sun, with an initial questionnaire and one at six months. 70 cases were recorded, with an average age of 29.5 years; in 84% the macula appeared altered at the first visit. At six months no one still reported a loss of vision or symptoms. The authors attribute the small number of cases also to the information campaigns that had preceded the eclipse2.
Not all experiences were so favourable. In Poland, after the 1996 eclipse, 21 people (33 eyes) were examined for problems with their sight; all had a small central spot and reduced vision at the first visit. Of the 11 rechecked, after seven to eight weeks ten eyes still saw 5/10 and two less than 2/10, and in all of these the small central spot persisted. According to the authors, watching the eclipse can cause irreversible damage even when using rudimentary protection3. The authors stress that vision returning to normal does not necessarily mean a complete recovery, because the spot can remain3.
The same emerges from children. In Australia, three children aged 8, 10 and 11 who had looked at the Sun during a partial eclipse and the transit of Venus across the Sun, in 2012, had clear damage on OCT in all the affected eyes, even when vision was normal; in some the changes were still present after five months5.
The long-term picture is described by an Irish series: four young women, seven eyes, followed for almost six years on average. Vision improved in all the eyes, with a median gain of 12 letters on the chart, but the authors also report persistent central spots, sometimes disabling6. A 2018 review sums up: most people recover, but a significant share are left with reduced vision or small central spots for the rest of their lives1. And the damage can remain unnamed for a long time: in Denmark a case of eclipse retinopathy recognised more than 30 years later has been described8.
One last figure helps put things in proportion. In the United States, between 2012 and 2024, in a database of over a million patients, 555 solar retinopathies were diagnosed, on average about 45 a year, with no significant increase in the years of eclipses7. It is a rare disease; but it is also, almost always, avoidable.
How to protect your eyes from an eclipse
The reviews agree on one point: prevention comes down to information and to the choice between not looking at the Sun directly or doing so with adequate protection1. After the 1999 eclipse the British authors attributed the small number of cases of damage to the information campaigns2.
What counts as adequate protection is told, by contrast, by the cases described. In India, 6 of the 21 people with damage to the retina had used viewing devices, which had not protected them enough4; in Poland the damage appeared despite rudimentary protection3. Blackened glass, films, sunglasses or improvised filters are not designed for looking at the Sun.
There are, instead, filters made specifically for direct viewing of the Sun, compliant with a specific international standard, ISO 12312-29, and indirect methods, such as projecting the image of the Sun onto a sheet of paper through a small hole. Binoculars, telescopes and cameras concentrate light: pointed at the Sun they require a solar filter mounted in front of the lens. Sunglasses are for daylight, and we describe them in the article on sunglasses.
When an eclipse is visible from Europe, newspaper attention and curiosity increase, especially among young people. The cases described in children and young adults1,5,6 are a good reason to talk about it beforehand, at home and at school.
When to talk to an ophthalmologist
- In the days after an eclipse: a dark or blurred spot at the centre of vision, straight lines that seem crooked, difficulty reading. These are the typical symptoms of solar retinopathy: talk to an ophthalmologist soon, who can check the macula with OCT1,6.
- In children: damage was found on OCT even when measured vision was normal5. If a child has looked at the Sun, it is a reason to talk to the ophthalmologist even without obvious symptoms.
- Call 112 or go to the emergency department for a sudden and significant loss of vision: you will find the other warning signs on the page about eye emergencies and in the article on blurred vision.
Frequently asked questions
Can you watch an eclipse with sunglasses?
No: sunglasses are for daylight, not for looking at the Sun. In the cases described after eclipses, even people who had used rudimentary protection or improvised devices reported damage to the retina3,4.
How long does it take to damage the retina by looking at the Sun?
The studies we have read do not indicate a safe threshold. They do show, however, that lesions were more extensive when the observation had lasted longer and had been repeated4.
Does solar retinopathy go away by itself?
It often improves: after the 1999 eclipse in the United Kingdom no one reported symptoms at six months2. In other cases small central spots remained for months or years, even with good measured vision3,6.
Is there a treatment for solar retinopathy?
There is no treatment of proven effectiveness: vision may improve by itself, but not always completely6. This is why the reviews insist on prevention1.
An eclipse is a rare spectacle and worth experiencing. The cases collected over the last thirty years say that the risk to the retina is real but avoidable: it depends on how you watch, and on how much was said about it beforehand1,2.
Sources
- Begaj T, Schaal S. Sunlight and ultraviolet radiation-pertinent retinal implications and current management. Surv Ophthalmol. 2018;63(2):174-192. doi:10.1016/j.survophthal.2017.09.002 · PubMed 28923583
- Michaelides M, Rajendram R, Marshall J, Keightley S. Eclipse retinopathy. Eye (Lond). 2001;15(Pt 2):148-51. doi:10.1038/eye.2001.49 · PubMed 11339579
- Kawa P, Mańkowska A, Mackiewicz J, Zagórski Z. [Solar retinopathy]. Klin Oczna. 1998;100(4):235-7. PubMed 9770984
- Verma L, Sharma N, Tewari HK, Gupta S. Retinopathy after solar eclipse, 1995. Natl Med J India. 1996;9(6):266-7. PubMed 9111785
- Gregory-Roberts E, Chen Y, Harper CA, Ong T, Maclean MA, Fagan XJ, et al. Solar retinopathy in children. J AAPOS. 2015;19(4):349-51. doi:10.1016/j.jaapos.2015.05.009 · PubMed 26239209
- Stephenson KAJ, Stephenson GR, Forristal MT, Moran S, O’Donoghue E. Long-term anatomical and functional findings of solar maculopathy. Ir J Med Sci. 2024;193(1):435-441. doi:10.1007/s11845-023-03434-2 · PubMed 37380832
- Dihan QA, Brown AD, Alshammari N, Shakarchi AF, Chauhan MZ, Sallam AB. Eye on the Eclipse: Demographic Trends in Solar Retinopathy From 2012 to 2024. J Vitreoretin Dis. 2026. doi:10.1177/24741264261447500 · PubMed 42164909 · PMC
- Johannessen S, Høgsbro M. [Eclipse retinopathy]. Ugeskr Laeger. 2014;176(46). PubMed 25394922
- ISO. ISO 12312-2:2015 Eye and face protection — Sunglasses and related eyewear — Part 2: Filters for direct observation of the sun. 2015. iso.org
Study titles are given in their original language of publication. The superscript numbers in the text refer to these sources; citation details come from PubMed (National Library of Medicine).
