Jason Derulo sparks concern after staring into the sun during solar eclipse
‘Someone’s going to be seeing an optometrist tomorrow,’ says fan
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Your support makes all the difference.In case people weren’t aware, it was unsafe to stare at the sun during the total solar eclipse without proper eyewear. However, that didn’t stop Jason Derulo.
The “Wiggle” singer, 34, joined millions of people in North America to watch the moon line up perfectly between the Earth and the sun on Monday 8 April. In a post shared to Instagram, Derulo shared a photo of himself witnessing the celestial event from New York City. While everyone around him was wearing eclipse glasses, Derulo went without them.
Not only did the “Talk Dirty” singer watch the solar eclipse sans glasses, but he was even pictured staring directly into the sun. “I can see it without my glasses,” he wrote in the Instagram caption.
Unsurprisingly, Derulo’s post sparked much concern from fans online. In the comments section, thousands of users warned Derulo about the harmful effects of viewing a solar eclipse without proper eyewear.
“It can damage your eyes,” one fan commented, while another user said: “Not safe.”
“Someone’s going to be seeing an optometrist tomorrow,” a third person joked.
“I really hope this was just for the photo and afterwards you put your glasses on,” said someone else.
Ahead of the total solar eclipse on Monday, Nasa recommended wearing protective eyewear that met the ISO 12312-2 international standard. According to the agency, viewing any part of the sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter secured over the front of the optics can instantly cause severe eye injury – known as “eclipse blindness” or solar retinopathy.
Solar retinopathy occurs when the light from the sun burns the back layer of the eye, or the retina. Watery eyes, eye soreness, headaches, and light sensitivity are some mild symptoms of solar retinopathy, while more serious symptoms include blurry vision, blind spots, dim vision, distorted vision, eye pain, or blindness.
Fifteen states in the US were in the path of totality, providing some of the best locations to view the solar eclipse, including Dallas, Texas; Little Rock, Arkansas; Indianapolis, Indiana; Cleveland, Ohio; Buffalo, New York; and Montreal, Canada.
In New York City, the partial eclipse began around 2.10pm and lasted a total of two hours and 26 minutes. Areas within the path of totality witnessed the moon fully cover the sun for approximately two to four minutes.
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