Monday, April 8, 2024, is a special day around the country, as a rare total solar eclipse will dawn upon us and thousands of people will flock to try and view the Moon passing between Earth and the Sun, obscuring the sunlight and creating darkness during the daytime.
Where people go and watch impacts their perspective during the once-in-a-lifetime experience as many will try and position themselves in the path of totality, but what you wear also affects your point of view. It’s all because of the way our eyes view color, according IU School of Optometry Assistant Professor Dr. Hin Cheung.
“Our eyes have different photoreceptor cells that respond to different light levels and also to different wavelengths of color,” Cheung said.
Q+A with Dr. Cheung 1 minute 15 seconds about how our eyes see color as the sky darkens and what colors will pop more than others during totality.
Our eyes can play tricks on us, making us see certain colors more than others, especially later in the day closer to sunset. As darkness approaches, our eyes see colors with shorter wavelengths better than others. Thus, colors like blue and green are more visible, and that will remain true during totality. Senior Lecturer Dr. Cody Kirkpatrick compares it to what we see around the time of sunset each night.
“As sunset starts to happen, even on a normal day, [the red colors] get sort of flattened out and don’t look as obvious to us,” Dr. Kirkpatrick said. “But what happens is the green colors start to stand out. I would say think about when you’ve been at an outdoor event during sunset. All of a sudden there’s that hour around sunset where you really notice the field, it’s that bright, beautiful green grass.”
The eclipse won’t only play tricks on our eyes, it will play tricks on animals and pets alike. The darkness during the middle of the afternoon will throw off their daily routines and even cause some to lose track of their whereabouts, as Dr. Kirkpatrick outlines.
“[Plant] blooms will close up like it is sunset; they will get tricked into thinking the sun is going down,” Dr. Kirkpatrick said. “Birds will come back to their nests. The bees will try and go back to their hives. Since it is not happening in the normal daily cycle, some of them will get lost. They will get stuck out where they are.”
Dogs will also get discouraged and act like they do when fireworks are going off. While they will want to remain inside, many of us humans will want to be outside.
When watching in a large group setting, wearing very warm or very cool colors can make a big difference (along with the eclipse glasses for your eyes). Even though we don’t see the red/orange/yellow colors as well, the balance between those with the greens/blues/purples will create quite the contrast in a large group setting that may trick our eyes, but makes for an optimal viewing pleasure.
It’s not the first time colors will appear different to us. There was a viral debate in Febuary 2015 about the color of the dress, posted by Cecilia Bleasdale ahead of the wedding of Grace and Keir Johnston in Scotland. The world was split on whether the dress was blue and black, or white and gold. It’s just one example of how the rods and cones in our eyes view colors in different ways.
While that won’t be the storyline when we experience darkness during the day, the way our eyes perceive colors is another reason why the total solar eclipse is so rare and incredible.
Q+A with Dr. Kirkpatrick 1 minute 15 seconds regarding the significance of the event in Bloomington and how rare it is that all classes were canceled.
