Here are some eclipse misconceptions

According to NASA, the following are common misconceptions that people have regarding an eclipse.

Total solar eclipses produce harmful rays that can cause blindness.

During a total solar eclipse, when the disk of the moon fully covers the sun, the brilliant corona emits electromagnetic radiation. Due to the coronal light being a million times fainter than the light from the sun itself, it will not cause blindness. However, if you watched the sun before totality, you will catch a glimpse of the brilliant solar surface and this can cause retinal damage.

If you are pregnant you should not watch an eclipse because it can harm your baby.

Although the electromagnetic radiation from the corona, seen as light, is perfectly safe, there is another form of radiation that travels to Earth from the sun. Particles called neutrinos pass through the solid body of the moon during the eclipse and a second later reach Earth and pass through it, too. Every second, your body is pelted by trillions of these neutrinos no matter if the sun is above or below the horizon. This is entirely harmless and will not harm you or a developing fetus.

There are no total solar eclipses at Earth’s North or South Poles.

In fact, there is nothing especially unique about these locations from an astronomical standpoint. They both have seen total eclipses.

The moon turns completely black during a total solar eclipse.

Although it is difficult to see the new moon and check this idea, we don’t actually have to make this difficult observation. Look at the first quarter moon and you will discover that the dark lunar surface beyond the crescent is weakly illuminated. This is because, as viewed from the moon, Earth is bright in the sky and its weak light is enough to turn the lunar surface a pale, milky white. This is  called earthshine and the same thing applies during a total solar eclipse. Most of Earth’s surface is actually in broad daylight off the path of totality and from the moon it would be in full phase, shining down on the lunar surface at its brightest. So, during a total solar eclipse, the lunar surface will be dimly seen due to earthshine, surrounded by the much more brilliant corona of the sun.

Solar Eclipses foretell major life changes and events about to happen.

This is a common interpretation found in astrological forecasts, which are themselves based upon coincidences and non-scientific beliefs in how celestial events control human behavior. A common qualification is that if the eclipse doesn’t foretell a change in your life, it may foretell a change in that of your friends. This is a logically-flawed use of confirmation bias in which you prove a cause-and-effect relationship by ignoring failures and only consider successful forecasts. There is nothing other than human psychology that connects eclipses with future events in your life.