What happens when you view eclipse without protective glasses?

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The solar eclipse is in just a few days. It’s expected to be a to be an exciting day for many, but can easily turn dangerous, if you don’t have protection.

“It’s kind of like a once in a life time opportunity,” said Shemetria Risper, a freshman at Westside High School.

Risper says her school is preparing to watch the moon pass between the sun and the earth, on one condition.

“They told is if we want to watch it, we have to wear the special glasses,” said Risper.

Risper’s Optometrist, Dr. Russell Chambless definitely agrees.

But why are the special glasses so important?

“It can take less than 20 seconds to do severe damage to the retina, right where it comes to a focus in the back of the eye,” said Dr. Chambless. “It can cause legal blindness.”

A pretty picture, can cause a not so pretty reaction.

“Even though the sun is 93 million miles away, 400 times larger than the moon, 400 times further away than the moon,” said Dr. Chambless. “We still are getting all of these sun rays, even when the moon is in front of the sun.”

It’s like looking directly at the sun and even though you can’t see all of it, it still causes the same damage. You need to get CE and ISO certified glasses to watch the magic happen.

“With these glasses you’ll block out harmful rays, ultraviolet, infrared, and intense visible light,” said Dr. Chambless.

He says if you don’t wear them, you’ll get a solar burn, damaging your photo-receptors.

“You just wind up with a blank spot in your line of sight,” said Dr. Chambless. “The longer you look at it, the more damage, so I wouldn’t want to risk 5 seconds.”