If you're among those who have eclipse glasses for safe viewing of the partial eclipse here in Northern California, one optometrist has some advice for you.
"Watching it through the eclipse glasses that whole time would not be advisable," said Dr. Nichole Moos. "I'd just briefly look up at the sun and then give your eyes a break if you are going to be using them, through the filters."
She's a VSP Network eye doctor from Gutierrez and Associates in Midtown.
Glasses that are safe will have markings that include an international safety label "ISO 12312-2." NASA recommends people look at the American Astronomical Society’s list of authorized and reputable manufacturers and dealers.
But eclipse-viewing glasses are becoming harder and harder to find. Who would've thought the summer's hottest ticket would be a pair of flimsy paper glasses?
Relles Florist in downtown Sacramento has a few, as of Friday night. They are in bouquet form, for $59.99.
"I really just literally wanted to show, let's say, the moon eclipsing the sunflower," third generation florist Alicia Relles told ABC10 Friday, describing the bouquet in front of her and she moved a decorate blue shell in front of a bright yellow sunflower.
Stuck into the bouquet is a pair of eclipse-viewing glasses.
On Thursday, Relles overnight-ordered 25 pairs of eclipse glasses. They arrived Friday morning.
"At first it was just, 'Oh, I want to get them,' and then I thought, 'Well, if the possibility of - having a business - I can actually, you know, be able to distribute these and get these out to the public and share that, too, while recouping some of the expense as well," she said.
She saved some for herself and her staff to watch the eclipse, will reach its maximum 80 percent coverage at 10:17 a.m. Monday. The rest she put up for sale in the special floral arrangements.
Come Monday, if you don't have a pair of eclipse-viewing glasses, do not try and sneak a peak at the sun.
"With no solar glasses on, just seconds of staring at the sun can cause a hole in the back of the eye - or a burn in the back of the eye," said Dr. Moos.
That can cause permanent damage you might not even feel at the time it's happening!
"Those receptors in the back of the eye, they don't have any nerve endings, so you can't feel if your eyes are getting burned," said Moos.
Blurred, distorted vision, eye pain: those are the symptoms of retinal burns that would appear in the hours and days after the eclipse. See an eye doctor if you experience that.
Moos said that despite all the public warnings about not staring at the partial eclipse and using proper eyewear, she still expects to see patients with retinal burns.
