Solar eclipse eye safety: Can staring at the sun cause blindness?

"It is very possible that you can wind up with a permanent blind spot from viewing the eclipse without the appropriate protection," said one expert.

Ahead of the Monday, April 8th solar eclipse, eye doctors are warning people not to look directly at the sun — which could lead to blindness and permanent eye damage.

"This can happen in less than a second from looking at the sun," Dr. Matthew Gorski, M.D., an ophthalmologist with Northwell Health on Long Island, New York, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

Another expert echoed those potential dangers. 

"It is very possible that you can wind up with a permanent blind spot from viewing the eclipse without the appropriate protection," Dr. Avnish Deobhakta, M.D., a vitreoretinal surgeon at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai in New York City, told Fox News Digital. 

"The eclipse is a wondrous but also dangerous event," he said. "And everyone must be vigilant during it."