On Monday, parts of North America were plunged into darkness after a total eclipse of the sun.
Millions of spectators across the US, Mexico, and Canada gathered to watch the spectacular event, with the path of totality crossing over approximately 44 million people.
People headed out in their numbers to watch the event - with proper eye protection, as that's extremely important - gathering in massive venues and fields to make sure they could catch this once-in-a-lifetime celestial phenomenon.
But while watching the moon and the sun cross paths, some people were left confused after seeing a red spot at the bottom of the sun.
The red spot is better known better as the Baily's Beads effect.
As per a report by News Channel 5 Cleveland, Baily's Beads effect is "a phenomenon where sunlight peaks through a valley on the surface of the moon."
During Monday's event, this red bead was seen by millions at the bottom of the sun around the corona, which is the outermost layer of the sun and what produced the ring of light when the moon passed over it.
That wasn't the only source of confusion, as Google searches for "Why do my eyes hurt?" also saw a dramatic increase in number.
Prior to occasion, NASA warned that the consequences could be severe for anyone not taking appropriate measures to protect their eyes if they wanted to witness the eclipse.
"Except during the brief total phase of a total solar eclipse, when the Moon completely blocks the Sun’s bright face, it is not safe to look directly at the Sun without specialized eye protection for solar viewing," the US space agency said. "Viewing any part of the bright Sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter secured over the front of the optics will instantly cause severe eye injury."
In 2017, during the last solar eclipse, researchers also warned of a similar danger writing: "Even a few seconds of such viewing can temporarily or permanently burn the center of the retina."
"Once retina tissue is destroyed, like brain tissue, it cannot regenerate, resulting in permanent central vision loss," they added.
Thankfully though, this injury is rare as reports found that fewer than 100 people sustained the injury as a result of the last eclipse, though this does not mean it cannot happen if proper measures are not taken seriously.
Speaking on a recent episode of NBC Chicago Dr. Derek Price, an optometrist in Fort Wayne, Indiana said: "It’s not really even obvious on an exam at first for those patients."
"They’ll come in with a complaint, they’ll tell you I’m seeing a spot in my vision and that’s all you get. But then over the course of the next couple months, if they come back, then you can see where it’s degraded the retina itself," Price continued. "If it’s degraded... the photoreceptors in the back of the eye could be lost forever."
However, a lot of people recover from eye-related issues within three to six months.
So there we have it, enjoy celestial events but please make sure you do so responsibily.
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