Why you need glasses to watch a solar eclipse

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houstonians can still hop on a flight to see the eclipse if they're willing to dig deep. Million Air is offering a luxurious option for $10,000. They'll fly you Monday morning to the path of totality where you can watch the natural phenomenon.

You'll return Monday evening to Hobby airport.

If you're like most and will be staying here in Houston, you need to have special protective glasses to watch the eclipse. The problem is most stores are sold out.

Land, Sea, & Sky is an astronomy store in Montrose. Chris Hysinger said they can't get any more shipped to them. Hysingerordered 6,000 glasses and they went quickly.

"We've had literally of hundreds of new customers come through our doors looking for solar glasses mostly," said Hysinger. "A large majority of them do look at the telescopes and talk about how they've always been interested in astronomy."

Dr. Shawn Kavoussi is a retina surgeon at the Berkeley Eye Center. He said if you look at the eclipse without proper, certified glasses, you risk permanent damage to your vision.

"The intensity of the light coming from a solar eclipse and the sun, in general, creates central vision damage that is identical to the kind of damage that you would see in children who are misusing laser pointers and pointing them at people's eyes," said Dr. Kavoussi.

SEE ALSO: How to make two simple solar eclipse viewers at home


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