NEARESTEXIT

So what happens to the eye when you're not wearing solar eclipse glasses (don't try this). Again most articles ranged in the amount of detail provided but a couple went deep into the chemistry of what's occurring when light enters into the eye. Basically, the light hits the macula, an area of the eye on the retina that has a concentration of cones. Because the macula is yellowish in color it absorbs a lot of blue/UV light (if you ever took high-school physics, you probably learned that purple light has the shortest wavelength and the highest level of energy in visible light). In normal conditions when you're just looking around at your dog chasing a squirrel your body can handle the concentration of light that's entering the eye. But when you stare directly into the sun, the eye is flooded with too much light. The light is part of a chemical process when (1) Vitamin A (derived from beta-carotene sources like carrots) is converted to (2) 11-cis-Retinal and when (3) exposed to light..