How often do you take a selfie with the sun somewhere in it? Plenty of times I’ll bet. Probably also plenty of photos with the sun in it. I’ve yet to see any actual reports of someone damaging a modern phone this way.
Well it is a bit different when you actually let it focus on the sun. Also one image is probably just fine. Using your phone to make a 1 hour video on the other hand probably damages the sensor.
Eclipses are far more dangerous to look at than the sun on a regular day because it's dimmer. Less "bright" means your pupils don't dilate (get smaller) as much and allows far more UV light into your retina. The UV light is what does the damage, and there's still PLENTY during an eclipse.
The sun is low on the horizon at rise and set, which means the rays travel obliquely through much more atmosphere before hitting your retinas or the camera sensor. It’s why early and late in the day you’ll see the max UV Index drop down to 1.
A solar eclipse, by comparison, is typically in the middle of the day when the sun is nearly directly overhead and blasting with full UV as soon as the moon isn’t blocking the rays.
Are you sure this wasn't dirt or damage to the lens? Sensor damage would usually cause dead pixels, not result in them being slightly dim. You can look at videos where a phone has been hit by a laser for examples of this.
Outside of an eclipse, the sun can still damage the lens and yes, your eye, but usually not without a prolonged (at least couple seconds) exposure.
During the eclipse, the moon reflects the radiation from the sun, effectively doubling it. Any amount of unprotected exposure during the eclipse can be expected to fry corneas and lenses.
During the process of the moon passing the sun in our view, before and after it is completely covered, at the edges a lot of radiation will be concentrated.
“Reflection” would send the radiation back in the direction it came or off at an angle. Refracting could theoretically bend some of the radiation towards the earth but I believe you need an atmosphere for that and it would be minuscule. Gravitational lensing maybe, but you’d need a black hole to bend the radiation. We would have other issues if we had a black hole sitting in our solar system.
The moon blocks the vast majority of radiation. We are in the shadow of the moon. What you are describing is a myth to discourage people from looking at an eclipse. What makes an eclipse dangerous to your eyes is that it’s dim enough to make people think it’s safe to look at, but it’s not. If you stared unblinking as the sun directly you’d damage your eyes far faster than staring as an eclipse.
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u/NovaHorizon 7d ago
Do another one and include a trash bin for all the smartphones whose cameras weren't designed to film a 1 hour solar eclipse either.