random question about eye damage/coincidence

[sam mayo]

last night when i was viewing jupiter i found it to bright through a 10mm ep (skywatcher standard) and had a burning sensation in my righ eye,thinking nothing of it and a few paracetamol later i continued mainly using other eye.

this mornig i woke up with a very sore slightly swollen and completely bloodshot eye,it might just be the case that my eye was already going to be sore and i used the scope and linked the two and put it down to a coincidence but you can never bee to careful with your eyes so thought it was worth asking

many thanks

sam

[Kai]

I would of thought Jupiter would not of been bright enough to damage an eye , a full moon maybe.

You havent got an eye infection that viewing has made worse ?

[sam mayo]

well tbh thats what i thought but becouse it was burning when i was looking at jupiter which seemed bright i thought it was worth checking out>thought it was a silly newby question buit had to ask lol

thanks for the reply

sam

[faulksy]

makes sence why you ask, but wouldnt think jupiter would do that like kai said maybee the moon, chances are it was inflamed all ready and you put it down to jup

[jonathan]

Possibly if you rubbed your eye from the brightness you might have introduced some germs or debris that caused the inflammation.

I have looked at Jupiter through my 8SE a lot and, although bright, it never really caused me discomfort at any magnification. I find that a moon filter helps to reduce the glare, but it also reduces the detail and contrast.

[JamesF]

The moon through my 10" dob is not entirely comfortable to look at when full, but it's never caused a problem longer than the time I've spent at the eyepiece. I can't imagine why Jupiter would do so.

James

[John]

I really don't think this was caused by viewing Jupiter.

If the soreness does not go away I'd definitely see your GP or Optician about it though and have it checked out.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I sincerely doubt if Jupiters brighness caused the problem. Not even the brightness of the Moon can cause damage to the eyes, so Jupiter has no chance. Its common enough for observers to pick up eye infections from the EP.

Either see a GP if you are very worried or pick up a bottle of eye drops (Brolene) from a chemist.

[swamp thing]

It's not going to be Astro related. A bright summers day just looking about is much brighter than a full moon and does not damage your eyes,

As John suggested a visit to your GP or optician may be prudent.

[TheNorthernMonkey]

The moon is no brighter than any other object in direct sunlight.

[Naemeth]

As others' have said, it would be best to go see your GP or an Optician.

Our eyes can adapt to bright environments (daylight) and dark environments (night without street lights), what can strain our eyes is looking at very bright things (such as a full Moon or street light) when our eyes are dark adapted, even then, the pupils will shrink almost immediately. Stars and planets (with the Sun as an exception) are not bright enough from where we are to cause any damage to our eyes, and even if our fully dilated eyes couldn't cope with the light they were receiving, they would shrink.

Have a look here:

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/red-eye/Pages/Introduction.aspx

HTH

[glowjet]

I would go along with what has been said, that your eye was already infected when you looked at Jupiter, a trip to your local Chemist could be beneficial, as there are many chemi sundries that may help alleviate the problem, if not the Chemist will advise you otherwise

John.

[ollypenrice]

You can't damage your eye even with the moon in a large telescope. It may be related to holding your eye open, maybe with pollen or other agitating things around. As above, get it checked. Don't take any chances.

Olly

[umadog]

Olly is correct. Even the moon isn't bright in absolute terms. It doesn't look very bright during the day, does it? When you see it during the day it looks dimmer than a cloud. Yet it's the same brightness (photons per unit angle squared) at night as it is during the day. Jupiter is no brighter. It only looks brighter at night because the background sky is darker. In fact, your perception of black and white is totally based on the contrast of an object with respect to its surroundings. It's a very strong perception, strong enough to make people feel uncomfortable with some stimuli, but there's no way the moon or Jupiter can damage the eye when viewed through a telescope. So probably something got into your eye.

[LukeSkywatcher]

The Moon when at full phase only gives off about 11% of the total reflected light from the Sun, so thats not going to cause damage. Jupiter gives off much less.

You have a simple case of "red eye", which can be treated with drops from a chemist.

[farunj]

As others have said, it's not caused by Jupiter!!

[66mikeg]

Sounds like conjunctivitis to me, I should visit the quack because this is extremely contageous.

[66mikeg]

contagious even

[Ganymede12]

Why are you asking eye-related questions on SGL?

You should have gone to specsavers!

(sorry - couldn't resist!)

[ollypenrice]

I think we should desist from offering diagnoses over the net, maybe?

Olly

[Mr Q]

I think we should desist from offering diagnoses over the net, maybe?

Olly

I SEE your point. Sorry, just had to. It's been one of those nights and one of those threads.

[sam mayo]

thanks for the reply's it was an infection,but said were i have been out in all nigh probably inadvertently rubbed something or another in ther without realising and coupled with using the scope so much can cause a little eye strain because im not used to doing it.

know have to wear a dog collar to stop me touching it lol

p.s ganymede12 you telling me this isn't specsaver's, that's embarrassing