• Question: Why if you look at the sun for too long you get blind ?

    Asked by Jam to Áine, Victoria, Lydia, Eoin, Ciarán on 20 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Lydia Bach

      Lydia Bach answered on 20 Nov 2014:

      Hey Jam,

      Some of the suns rays, especially ultraviolet radiation, can cause damage to parts of your eye, because it is very sensitive.
      Staring in the sun for too long can damage part of the eyes retina in the back of the eye, which is responsible for the majority of your central detail vision.
      That is because the cells get damaged, inflamed or die from the high energy radiation, or proteins in the eye’s lens unravel and then accumulate.

      Eyelids usually cut off too much sunlight, which is why we squint when there is too much sunlight and we don’t have sun glasses.

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