Current:Home > FinanceFastexy Exchange|Can a solar eclipse blind you? Get to know 5 popular eclipse myths before April 8 -Zenith Investment School
Fastexy Exchange|Can a solar eclipse blind you? Get to know 5 popular eclipse myths before April 8
NovaQuant Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-08 15:55:53
The Fastexy Exchangesolar eclipse is just over a month away and the astral wonder is set to dazzle skywatchers across the country.
The eclipse will cast a 115-mile wide path of totality across North America, temporarily covering hundreds of cities and towns in darkness.
Humanity has taken strides in understanding the relationship between the sun, moon and Earth but certain ideas around the intersection of the three seem to stubbornly remain.
"Some older ideas seem remarkably resistant to replacement by the more scientifically-correct explanations," NASA said ahead of the 2017 eclipse.
Here are five myths about solar eclipses and the explanations for them.
Is it in the stars? Free Daily and Monthly Horoscopes
Solar eclipses don't (usually) blind people
Once the eclipse reaches totality, the visible corona emits electromagnetic radiation that can appear with a green hue, according to NASA.
The coronal light is not able to blind a person who is looking at it as it crosses over 90 million miles of space before reaching Earth.
If you stare at the sun before or after totality you will see the sun's surface and the light may cause retinal damage. NASA says that it is human instinct to look away before it does.
Solar eclipses don't do damage during pregnancy
While the sun's corona does emit electromagnetic radiation seen as light, the radiation does not harm pregnant women, according to NASA.
A form of radiation called neutrinos reach the Earth from the sun on a daily basis and pass through the moon during an eclipse. The neutrinos do not cause harm to people.
You can see solar eclipses at the poles
It would be fair to assume that eclipses would be hard to view from the North and South Poles, however NASA says that there is not anything particularly special about the poles when it comes to eclipses.
Santa's neck of the woods saw a total eclipse on March 20, 2015 at the same time as the Spring Equinox. The South Pole saw a total eclipse on November 23, 2003.
Solar eclipses are not omens
Cultures throughout time have tied negative superstitions to the solar eclipse.
Multiple cultures tied the sun's disappearance to it being consumed by a monster or other evil being.
The deaths of notable people close to eclipses — including French Emperor Louis the Pious on May 5, 840 and the Prophet Mohammad's son Ibrahim on Jan. 27, 632 — further tied negative beliefs to the astral event.
However these associations are caused by confirmation bias according to NASA, which the American Psychological Association defines as, "the tendency to look for information that supports, rather than rejects, one’s preconceptions."
Confirmation bias also explains the tendency to tie astrological forecasts to the eclipse.
The moon does not turn entirely black during a solar eclipse
While photographs of the moon during the eclipse show a completely black disk, NASA says that you may still be able to see the moon's surface during an eclipse.
The moon can be illuminated by earthshine or light reflecting off the earth. There is enough earthshine to see the surface of the moon faintly, according to NASA.
See the path of the total eclipse
veryGood! (19519)
Related
- Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
- 'Sister Wives' stars Christine and Meri pay tribute to Garrison Brown, dead at 25
- Need help with a big medical bill? How a former surgeon general is fighting a $5,000 tab.
- Three people were rescued after a sailboat caught fire off the coast of Virginia Beach
- Person accused of accosting Rep. Nancy Mace at Capitol pleads not guilty to assault charge
- The Rock joining Roman Reigns for WrestleMania 40 match against Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins
- Millie Bobby Brown Claps Back on Strange Commentary About Her Accent
- Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is planning a fifth walk down the aisle this June
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- Senate to vote on first government funding package to avoid shutdown
Ranking
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- CIA director returns to Middle East to push for hostage, cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel
- RNC votes to install Donald Trump’s handpicked chair as former president tightens control of party
- Witnesses in Nigeria say hundreds of children kidnapped in second mass-abduction in less than a week
- The Louvre will be renovated and the 'Mona Lisa' will have her own room
- Missed the State of the Union 2024? Watch replay videos of Biden's address and the Republican response
- Senate to vote on first government funding package to avoid shutdown
- A St. Louis driver has been found guilty in a crash that severed a teen athlete’s legs
Recommendation
Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
Senate to vote on first government funding package to avoid shutdown
Washington state achieves bipartisan support to ban hog-tying by police and address opioid crisis
Behind the scenes with the best actor Oscar nominees ahead of the 2024 Academy Awards ceremony
'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
Duchess of Sussex, others on SXSW panel discuss issues affecting women and mothers
Roswell police have new patches that are out of this world, with flying saucers and alien faces
Female representation remains low in US statehouses, particularly Democrats in the South