(WSYR-TV) — The Total Solar Eclipse is less than a month away and people all over the U.S. are preparing by buying eclipse glasses, and booking trips to view the eclipse in full totality.
For those interested in getting the best viewing experience during the solar eclipse, experts at Solar Eye Glasses — a brand of solar eclipse glasses — recommend wearing two specific colors.
During a total solar eclipse, the natural phenomenon called the Purkinje effect comes into play.
According to Meriam Webster, the Purkinje phenomenon is, “a shift of the region of apparent maximal spectral luminosity from yellow with the light-adapted eye toward violet with the dark-adapted eye that is presumably associated with predominance of cone vision in bright and rod vision in dim illumination.”
“This Purkinje effect during the coming eclipse will turn the whole experience from just watching the sky go dark to a real-life science demo on your clothes!” stated a spokesperson from Solar Eyeglasses.
This effect will change the way we see color, which is why you might want to wear two certain colors to get the best viewing experience.
Wearing these colors will enhance your experience during the solar eclipse
During the eclipse, we will experience a low light situation in which we perceive the color green to look brighter and pop against the dimming surroundings.
In normal daylight, our eyes use the ‘cone cells’ of the retina to see colors clearly. These cells function best under bright light conditions (that’s called photopic vision).
However, as it gets darker, our eyes switch to ‘rod cells’, which are better for low light conditions (scotopic vision). Although these cells are not so great with colors, they pick up blue-green hues well.
Other colors we can pick up well during the eclipse are red and oranges. This is because of the mesopic zone where the solar eclipse “magic” happens.
“Four to five minutes before the eclipse becomes total, we’re in the intermediate phase called the mesopic vision zone— where it’s not too bright, not too dark, but the surroundings look less colorful. They rather turn grayish or silvery,” stated a spokesperson from Solar Eyeglasses.
In this zone, red and orange colors are more noticeable because the light levels fall enough so that the cone cells receive less stimulation resulting in a decrease of vibrancy or saturation of colors we see, as they pick the gray overtone of the surroundings.
“This isn’t just an eclipse thing. It’s similar to how we observe garden flowers in the evening. Reds turn darker, almost black, while blues and greens get brighter. To really see the changes in color saturation, lots of people need to wear these complimentary red and green colors. Two or five in a group of 100 wouldn’t help,” stated Solar Eyeglasses.
So, red and green outfits can enhance your experience and give your eclipse photos a unique and vivid pop of color against the eclipse’s backdrop.