I thought you could go blind looking at the sun.

Edit: My title was worded badly. I meant how people don’t go blind. I understand why people look at sunsets, just not how they do blind. That’s my fault.

Edit: Thanks for all the replies and clarification!

Here’s what I learned incase anyone else has had the same question as me, the reason we don’t go blind is that we’re usually looking at the colours of the sky during a sunset and only some few second glances at the sun.

Looking at the sun also doesn’t make us go blind during sunrise and sunset because the light rays have to go through more atmosphere, so by the time they reach your eyes, the rays are weaker. It’s fine to look at the sun for a few seconds when it’s more red than white or yellow.

Again, thanks for all the clarification.

  • @[email protected]
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    fedilink
    141 year ago

    The sun high up in the sky produces light that has to go through a thin layer of air to reach you, and is really powerful. It’s so much light that it can burn your retinas. The sun near the horizon produces light that goes through hundreds of miles of atmosphere, scattering a lot of the light, and the remaining light is safe to view.