They already had, or I wouldn’t have been able to see the diamond ring to begin with. The “ring” part of the diamond ring is all corona.
It’s possible that immediately after that, my view of the corona had a little hole in it that my brain was interpolating over, but if so, I didn’t notice it.
The reason I’ve heard (for the last 60 years) is that the corona around the sun emits a large amount of UV light, but not white light. So with the sun blocked, there is still a dangerous amount of UV light. So the reflex to look away isn’t there, but the light you cannot see will still cook your retina if you look for too long.
how long is too long? Only one way to find out, but you shouldn’t.
But it’s safe to look at it directly during 100% coverage. I and the folks I was with certainly did the last two times (2017 and 1999 in Europe.)
Were you at Lake Balaton for that one, @pulykamell? My wife and I were just reminiscing about it. A beautiful summer setting & the shores were teeming with eclipse-watchers!
Igen! I can’t remember exactly which village we were at, but the whole company took a field trip out there.
Is it safe for my cell phone to use it in selfie mode to take a picture of the eclipse over my shoulder so I’m not looking directly at it? That’s got to be safe for me I’d assume.
Might not be safe for the phone - my glasses came with instructions to adapt them for a phone
The corona mostly emits far UV and X-rays, which are stopped very well by the atmosphere. What gets through the atmosphere from the corona is all at a level that’s quite safe for the naked eye. What danger there is, during an eclipse or otherwise, is all from the photosphere (what we think of as the “surface” of the Sun). That’s what’s entirely covered during totality.
Completely safe for you, though it probably will damage that spot on the phone’s sensor (probably won’t burn it out completely, but you’ll get a ghost image of the eclipse on every photo you take after that). It’s your phone; decide for yourself if it’s worth it.
Also, the Sun is a lot smaller in the sky than you think. You won’t see it very well in the picture.