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+--- Thread: Stargazing & Peripheral Vision (/showthread.php?tid=2673)
Stargazing & Peripheral Vision - satori - 01-12-2014
Hello,
One of the things I have tried in order to help "reset" my vision is to look up into space at night. My theory is that my vision has been fixated, staring centimetres behind a computer screen and glasses for years, so this is one of the most opposing actions I could think of - to scan galaxies thousands of miles away and shake up the distances and objects of light which I am used to experiencing.
Anyway, sometimes I switch my attention from the moon, to Jupiter, to something on earth again etc., and I'll notice my peripheral vision picks up very distant stars that I wasn't able to see before - then when I try and switch my full attention to these distant stars and focus on them, they will often disappear again.
This is similar to when I look at a blank wall or ceiling and I pick up more details the more I allow my eyes to scan and jump to new points of interest which appear in the corner of my focus.
I am convinced that my peripheral vision, or seeing out of the corner of my eye is where my strongest vision is at the moment and has been for a while. I remember mentioning this to my optician when I was first getting glasses about 8 years ago and he denied that the corner of my eye could see better than another part.
I'm not entirely sure why but I have a feeling my vision could be stuck in "fight or flight" mode, which could be explained by the anxiety and changes in my lifestyle and experience at that point in time.
Has anyone experienced something similar and a way to bring this better peripheral vision into the centre of focus more?
Thanks in advance for any help.
RE: Stargazing & Peripheral Vision - Nancy - 01-12-2014
(01-12-2014, 06:33 AM)satori Wrote: Hello,A couple of things. First, there are 2 types of photo-receptor cells in the eye. The cone cells are responsible for clear sharp central vision, and color vision. They need a certain amount of light to be activated -- notice at night all colors look like shades of gray. The rod cells are responsible for picking up movement, night vision, and peripheral vision. The cones are concentrated in the very center of your eye, the macula, then there are fewer and fewer as you go to the edges of the retina. The rod cell distribution, on the other hand, is scarce in the central part of the eye, becoming more and more dense as you go farther away from the center.
One of the things I have tried in order to help "reset" my vision is to look up into space at night. My theory is that my vision has been fixated, staring centimetres behind a computer screen and glasses for years, so this is one of the most opposing actions I could think of - to scan galaxies thousands of miles away and shake up the distances and objects of light which I am used to experiencing.
Anyway, sometimes I switch my attention from the moon, to Jupiter, to something on earth again etc., and I'll notice my peripheral vision picks up very distant stars that I wasn't able to see before - then when I try and switch my full attention to these distant stars and focus on them, they will often disappear again.
This is similar to when I look at a blank wall or ceiling and I pick up more details the more I allow my eyes to scan and jump to new points of interest which appear in the corner of my focus.
I am convinced that my peripheral vision, or seeing out of the corner of my eye is where my strongest vision is at the moment and has been for a while. I remember mentioning this to my optician when I was first getting glasses about 8 years ago and he denied that the corner of my eye could see better than another part.
I'm not entirely sure why but I have a feeling my vision could be stuck in "fight or flight" mode, which could be explained by the anxiety and changes in my lifestyle and experience at that point in time.
Has anyone experienced something similar and a way to bring this better peripheral vision into the centre of focus more?
Thanks in advance for any help.
So in very low light conditions, all you have to use is your rod cells, which are not in the center of your eye. So often looking to the side of something will allow you to see it better at night. This is also why your peripheral vision can pick up a star that "disappears" when you look directly at it -- there's not enough light at the time to activate your cone cells.
Scanning the ceiling is different, as I'm assuming there's enough light. You're relaxing your eyes, not doing the dreaded "trying to see", and more is coming into focus. Keep noticing and experimenting, learning what works for you and what doesn't. Thanks for the post!