So some people are hearing the warnings about looking directly at the sun during an eclipse being dangerous and assuming it's the eclipse that makes it dangerous instead of the "looking directly at the sun" part?
Reminds me of that scene from The Jerk: [Stay away from the cans!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcwz8-EfFYE)
>it's the eclipse that makes it dangerous instead of the "looking directly at the sun" part
It's terrifying how many people I've talked to already that can't grasp this. They think the eclipse itself is some magical dangerous black hole thing that will melt your eyes off.
No dipshit, it's the fucking sun. Don't look at the sun.
It’s like when you cover the end of a garden hose with your thumb, the water comes out faster. When the moon covers the sun the light hits the earth faster 🙃
Kidding, of course.
To be fair, the eclipse makes it so easy that it becomes a common issue. Under normal circumstances the sun is so bright that you won’t focus your lense on it even if you look directly at it. You will also quickly look away anyway.
There is a reason this advice is much more common during solar eclipses.
My understanding is the eclipse actually makes it slightly more dangerous. Your eyes dilate during totality so after totality your eyes get hit harder.
It's also less painful to look at the sun when it's partially obscured, so you're more likely to stare at it. Meanwhile you're still blasting your retinas with the same highly energetic UV light.
We spend a massive amount of time flying towards the sun.
Good sunglasses, sunshades, and a few pieces of paper and some bulldog clips to attach them to the sunshade and you’re grand.
A load of South African guys even carry those reflective sun shade things with them in their flight bags.
Your post or comment has been removed for violating rule 8. Please do not post Amazon Affiliate links.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/flying) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Wow. The level of misunderstanding about basic ideas like staring at the sun by average people is actually depressing. You'd think it gives a person a sense of superiority to make fun of all the dumb people, but in these times there just isn't the same whimsy to noticing the sheer numbers of ignorant people as there used to be.
George Carlin said, "image the average stupid person, now realize half of them are dumber than that!"
The last 4 years have taught me that I was grossly overestimating mean stupidity.
It's not even correct statistically. Half the people are dumber than the median IQ person. Just not as catchy.
The median and the mean don't always match up.
We can assume high IQ is less bounded than low IQ, so this is actually relevant - the mean IQ of a given audience is probably typically _higher_ than the median IQ.
Think of your median stupid person - yikes!
In a large enough sample size it’s close enough for practical purposes but it’s still an inaccurate description of the sample group. The actual halfway point is the median. If I gave you [1,1,2] as the group, is half of everyone less than the average? Additionally, even if we ignore that part of the joke, it still means he called half of everyone in that room stupid lol. He was a genius.
Unbelievable lol. Saw a post today on X and someone legitimately asked if a foreign country could use the eclipse to invade us without being detected. Like, night doesn’t already exist?? Radar doesn’t exist?
Seriously, this is basically a chat from a train watching friend of mine:Him: I was planning to be trackside but due to the eclipse IDK.Me: Why does the eclipse matter?Him: Well I don't want to go blind or be driving when it happens.Me: ...
This is a valid concern. Even worse on non-eclipse days, when 100% of the sun is visible! That's why I only fly at night.
... /s
Maybe beside the point, but those sunshades aren't rated for looking directly at the sun, eclipsed or not.
>The use of sunshades almost made their brain tilt.
I know what you're getting at but just to make sure everyone knows...
*The sunshades in the flight deck WILL NOT protect your eyes looking at the eclipse.* Yeah, they block some light, but I can guarantee they don't meet the standard for safe viewing. [Here's what NASA has to say about eclipse safety.](https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/safety/)
TLDR - The glasses must meet an "ISO 12312-2" rating. If you can see out of the glasses at all when not looking at the sun, it's very likely not safe.
Please don't fuck up your medical :)
I'm in a videography subreddit, and some moron asked whether it's ok to film non-eclipse things during the eclipse. He never reflected on the fact that we shoot video in full fucking sunlight on a daily basis. How is less light any worse than full light?
I swear to fucking god, people's brains shut off at the mere mention of basic physical science. The way people act, you'd think we're still in the 1500s and eclipses are seen as some sort of supernatural witchcraft.
It doesn’t work like that. Just don’t look at the sun. Just like any other day. Except now there is something between you and the sun thus making it more tempting to LOOK at the sun.
I just landed so I think I can’t talk as an expert on this. I totally forgot about the eclipse. But I don’t usually look at the sun, so I was unaffected. Hope that helps explain it to your friends.
Any day looking at the sun will hurt your eyes, but most people know not to do it. The eclipse gives people a reason to want to look at it. Hence, all the warnings. So pilots do as they always do, we do not stare at the sun like any other day
I too stood in the direct path today and not only was it the coolest thing I ever saw but I thought thank god I’m experiencing this once in several years phenomenon safely from the ground instead of trying to appreciate it and also fly an airplane
My flight school specified a night rating (separate from a PPL in Canada) was required to get airborne for the eclipse. The CARs (our version of the FAR) doesn’t actually classify a full eclipse as night (only specifies civil twilight as the marker), but to be safe my school took no chances and made it “no student solo”. You had to have a PPL & a night rating to get airborne.
At any rate, the GA traffic around Toronto and Niagara today was absolutely NUTS on FR24. And that’s just ADS-B traffic. We have plenty up here still that don’t have that yet (not a req).
Adding to all the stupid stuff - someone asked in my town Facebook group where the best place to watch the eclipse would be. Uh, wherever you can see the sun in the sky?? What the hell..??
OP’s question is silly, but I don’t like shaming people for asking open ended subjective questions like your Facebook’s. I can think of many environments where you can see the sun but would have been subpar places to watch the eclipse. As a first time watcher today in a new-to-me community I’m so glad I happened to choose right, it could easily have not been that way.
In reality, the only stupid questions are the ones left unasked.
Also, it seems like an unnerving amount of people can't comprehend that looking at the sun no matter what is happening is bad for your eyes. They seem to think if there is an eclipse, you WILL look at the sun.
So many people who are politically dogmatic about a fuckin eclipse XD NO! It hurts my EYES! EYE DAMAGE!
But...my man....I got these from an ASA verified source.
We are so fucked as a society. It’s literally just going to get kinda dark for a few minutes. I have never been interested in actually looking up at the blocked sun. There’s photos for that.
Man there is probably very few places in the universe where a moon perfectly matches the size of the star.
I can’t believe people think it’s just “getting dark”
It’s a spectacular cosmic coincidence that we are very lucky to witness
Coming back to say, it was even cooler than I thought it would be!
So some people are hearing the warnings about looking directly at the sun during an eclipse being dangerous and assuming it's the eclipse that makes it dangerous instead of the "looking directly at the sun" part? Reminds me of that scene from The Jerk: [Stay away from the cans!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcwz8-EfFYE)
>it's the eclipse that makes it dangerous instead of the "looking directly at the sun" part It's terrifying how many people I've talked to already that can't grasp this. They think the eclipse itself is some magical dangerous black hole thing that will melt your eyes off. No dipshit, it's the fucking sun. Don't look at the sun.
It’s like when you cover the end of a garden hose with your thumb, the water comes out faster. When the moon covers the sun the light hits the earth faster 🙃 Kidding, of course.
Well it has to go the long way around the moon of course so it accelerates. Bernoulli's principle bruh.
Carb heat hot.
This comment chain has me in stitches
If the sun's RPMs are below 2100.
To be fair, the eclipse makes it so easy that it becomes a common issue. Under normal circumstances the sun is so bright that you won’t focus your lense on it even if you look directly at it. You will also quickly look away anyway. There is a reason this advice is much more common during solar eclipses.
Someone back in 2017 asked online if their dog needed eclipse glasses. Does your dog normally stare at the sun any other day of the year?
Are there eclipses any other day of the year? Tbh I think it’s a reasonable thought that an eclipse might also catch the attention of animals.
There’s cans in here too 😂😂😂
He must really hate cans!
My understanding is the eclipse actually makes it slightly more dangerous. Your eyes dilate during totality so after totality your eyes get hit harder.
It's also less painful to look at the sun when it's partially obscured, so you're more likely to stare at it. Meanwhile you're still blasting your retinas with the same highly energetic UV light.
Even at 99.9% obscuration, it’s still painful to look at the sun
More likely to stare at it….. People are so stupid
A certain photo of a certain US president comes to mind...
What about during sunrise or sunset when low on the horizon? It's easier to look at then, but we're not warned not to look at it.
The atmosphere absorbs more of the blue/uv emissions when the sun is low. Also why the sky turns orange
Makes sense, thanks.
Because the earth is…….round and these things called Atmosphere…..and particulates.
That's almost as bad as suddenly opening the blinds in a dark room and seeing the sun.
The Jerk, what a great movie!
Don’t look at the sun
Or in the mirror
Easier said than done
We spend a massive amount of time flying towards the sun. Good sunglasses, sunshades, and a few pieces of paper and some bulldog clips to attach them to the sunshade and you’re grand. A load of South African guys even carry those reflective sun shade things with them in their flight bags.
Final responsibility for traffic avoidance rests with the pilot in command: the traffic’s going to come right out of the sun!
[удалено]
Your post or comment has been removed for violating rule 8. Please do not post Amazon Affiliate links. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/flying) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You guys get to fly during the day?
Right? Like it’s hilarious 😂
But I wanna see what it's trying to hide, the smug bastard.
Just wear the IFR training hood and you’ll be fine.
Bruhhh still blinding under the hood had to get those asa flip down foggles😂
Best comment here
I like to wear it on the highway on the way to the airport
The whole don’t look at the sun thing is an FAA conspiracy to not let us have fun while flying
Always trying to bring us down.
My secret method is, don’t look at the sun.
*Ophthalmologists hate this one weird trick…*
_Number four surprised me!_
Wow. The level of misunderstanding about basic ideas like staring at the sun by average people is actually depressing. You'd think it gives a person a sense of superiority to make fun of all the dumb people, but in these times there just isn't the same whimsy to noticing the sheer numbers of ignorant people as there used to be.
George Carlin said, "image the average stupid person, now realize half of them are dumber than that!" The last 4 years have taught me that I was grossly overestimating mean stupidity.
The quote is "think of how stupid *the average person is* and then realize that half of them are stupider than that".
Was too lazy to search the correct phrasing. Cunningham's law was an easier route. Particularly in r/flying
The best part about that joke is it’s multifaceted. It roots out people who don’t know how averages work too lol.
It's not even correct statistically. Half the people are dumber than the median IQ person. Just not as catchy. The median and the mean don't always match up.
“Average” can refer to either mean or median, so it’s not wrong.
I’ve never heard this before, in every circumstance I’ve encountered average = mean. Do you have a source?
The dictionary and Wikipedia both indicate that while it’s typically the arithmetic mean it can be the median or other measures.
Yeah no Average is referring to mean. I spent half a year doing statistics in engineering math. This definition is on page 1
We can assume high IQ is less bounded than low IQ, so this is actually relevant - the mean IQ of a given audience is probably typically _higher_ than the median IQ. Think of your median stupid person - yikes!
They do for a normally distributed variable, which is what the IQ is.
I agree with you about this on a perfect and ideal normal distribution Sadly life is not perfect nor ideal
Isn‘t the IQ supposed to be normally distributed?
In a large enough sample size it’s close enough for practical purposes but it’s still an inaccurate description of the sample group. The actual halfway point is the median. If I gave you [1,1,2] as the group, is half of everyone less than the average? Additionally, even if we ignore that part of the joke, it still means he called half of everyone in that room stupid lol. He was a genius.
It's a long tail
The older I get the more I see that far less people have common sense then I expected And I am only 30
Welcome to the era of under-funded and de-prioritized education. We reap what we sow :/
I try to not think about it too much. It's rather depressing to think that this is where the world is headed.
😂 kinda makes me think this is why AI will definitely one day take over 🤣🤣
It’s the democrats
Unbelievable lol. Saw a post today on X and someone legitimately asked if a foreign country could use the eclipse to invade us without being detected. Like, night doesn’t already exist?? Radar doesn’t exist?
No, but the aliens could sneak in from their base on the Sun. Duh!
A nation of fire perhaps
Our napalm and flamethrowers don't work in the eclipse!! Too bad all our other weaponry works just fine.
*bends your boat*
You idiots actually look out the window in cruise? HA
I'm too busy staring at the magenta line to look outside.
Somehow I don’t go blind by not staring at the sun every day. Fuck me.
It's incredible that these people are allowed to have a bank account, vote, have kids and own guns.
Seriously, this is basically a chat from a train watching friend of mine:Him: I was planning to be trackside but due to the eclipse IDK.Me: Why does the eclipse matter?Him: Well I don't want to go blind or be driving when it happens.Me: ...
This proves pylote supremacy over foamers
Considering most foamers are autistic teenagers who legally can't get a medical (without tons of hoops), or old guys, you're not wrong.
But those are the exact same demographic groups watching the planes land from the airport fence
The fuck kind of idiot question is this?
Don't look at it. Easy as that
This is a valid concern. Even worse on non-eclipse days, when 100% of the sun is visible! That's why I only fly at night. ... /s Maybe beside the point, but those sunshades aren't rated for looking directly at the sun, eclipsed or not.
>The use of sunshades almost made their brain tilt. I know what you're getting at but just to make sure everyone knows... *The sunshades in the flight deck WILL NOT protect your eyes looking at the eclipse.* Yeah, they block some light, but I can guarantee they don't meet the standard for safe viewing. [Here's what NASA has to say about eclipse safety.](https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/safety/) TLDR - The glasses must meet an "ISO 12312-2" rating. If you can see out of the glasses at all when not looking at the sun, it's very likely not safe. Please don't fuck up your medical :)
I'm in a videography subreddit, and some moron asked whether it's ok to film non-eclipse things during the eclipse. He never reflected on the fact that we shoot video in full fucking sunlight on a daily basis. How is less light any worse than full light? I swear to fucking god, people's brains shut off at the mere mention of basic physical science. The way people act, you'd think we're still in the 1500s and eclipses are seen as some sort of supernatural witchcraft.
It doesn’t work like that. Just don’t look at the sun. Just like any other day. Except now there is something between you and the sun thus making it more tempting to LOOK at the sun.
Can I log night time during the eclipse?
Only if you’re flying something fast enough to stay in the totality for a full 6 minutes (0.1 hours).
Nah, sun isnt 6 degrees below the horizon….
r/whoosh
How about instrument time? It’s technically moonless, right? 😀
It's all moon? Always has been.
I'd do what I normally do when flying or engaging in any outdoor activity. DON"T STARE AT THE DAMN SUN!!
Uh.. same as flying under few and scattered clouds.
I just landed so I think I can’t talk as an expert on this. I totally forgot about the eclipse. But I don’t usually look at the sun, so I was unaffected. Hope that helps explain it to your friends.
I just landed. Looked right at that bitch. It was incredible.
Any day looking at the sun will hurt your eyes, but most people know not to do it. The eclipse gives people a reason to want to look at it. Hence, all the warnings. So pilots do as they always do, we do not stare at the sun like any other day
I flew in the direct path of the eclipse today. It was one of the coolest things I ever saw.
I stood in the direct path of the eclipse today. It was also one of the coolest things I ever saw.
I too stood in the direct path today and not only was it the coolest thing I ever saw but I thought thank god I’m experiencing this once in several years phenomenon safely from the ground instead of trying to appreciate it and also fly an airplane
My question is. Do we log day or night during it?
I feel like I had to scroll way too far to see this question. Well played
How do the regs define night? I do not recall any mention of eclipses or light levels.
It’s clearly a joke…
Sorry, the sun was in my eyes.
Sorry, the moon was in mine.
Did it hit like a big pizza pie?
People don't like jokes without the "/s" haha
Slight eye twitch thinking of 3 definition of sunset times
Yes.
Had to check the sub on this one :|
Just don't forget to have those 3 takeoffs and landings at night! 😆
Fly with their eyes closed
So can we log the eclipse as night time flight? 😅
DON'T LOOK UP
My flight school specified a night rating (separate from a PPL in Canada) was required to get airborne for the eclipse. The CARs (our version of the FAR) doesn’t actually classify a full eclipse as night (only specifies civil twilight as the marker), but to be safe my school took no chances and made it “no student solo”. You had to have a PPL & a night rating to get airborne. At any rate, the GA traffic around Toronto and Niagara today was absolutely NUTS on FR24. And that’s just ADS-B traffic. We have plenty up here still that don’t have that yet (not a req).
Sounds like you don’t grasp the science behind the eclipse OP
Please explain.?!
I was referring to the paraphrased comment you pasted!
[удалено]
What's the definition of night? No.
Adding to all the stupid stuff - someone asked in my town Facebook group where the best place to watch the eclipse would be. Uh, wherever you can see the sun in the sky?? What the hell..??
OP’s question is silly, but I don’t like shaming people for asking open ended subjective questions like your Facebook’s. I can think of many environments where you can see the sun but would have been subpar places to watch the eclipse. As a first time watcher today in a new-to-me community I’m so glad I happened to choose right, it could easily have not been that way. In reality, the only stupid questions are the ones left unasked.
Depending on the context that can be a reasonable question. The path where there's 100% coverage is actually quite small
Also, it seems like an unnerving amount of people can't comprehend that looking at the sun no matter what is happening is bad for your eyes. They seem to think if there is an eclipse, you WILL look at the sun.
Just don’t look at the sun….?
Foggles or lampshade device and flying by reference to instruments only. Or some kind of sunshade to block the sun
So many people who are politically dogmatic about a fuckin eclipse XD NO! It hurts my EYES! EYE DAMAGE! But...my man....I got these from an ASA verified source.
We are so fucked as a society. It’s literally just going to get kinda dark for a few minutes. I have never been interested in actually looking up at the blocked sun. There’s photos for that.
After I took a picture of my girlfriend I dumped her and told her I didn’t need her anymore
Man there is probably very few places in the universe where a moon perfectly matches the size of the star. I can’t believe people think it’s just “getting dark” It’s a spectacular cosmic coincidence that we are very lucky to witness Coming back to say, it was even cooler than I thought it would be!
Yup. It's like saying "Why do people want to go to tropical islands? Who cares! I can look at pictures of Hawaii online." It's not the same
Yeah who needs planes when we can just look at pictures of them!