Viewing parties offer sight of, insight into eclipse
Adults and children across the Capital Region had a chance Monday to see something that hasn’t occurred in nearly a century.
The area saw 66 percent coverage from the Great American Solar Eclipse as the moon passed between Earth and the sun.
This rare event was seen in its totality from Salem, Oregon, to Charleston, South Carolina, as it made its way across the U.S. on a diagonal path. It’s the first time since June 8, 1918, that there’s been a coast-to-coast total eclipse in America.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun and obscures it totally or partially, sometimes creating highly unusual situations. Locally, the eclipse lasted about 2 1/2 hours, beginning at 1:22 p.m. and ending at 3:56 p.m.,
reaching its peak at 2:42.
The rare event was greeted by the Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York with a Monday afternoon viewing party in East Greenbush, while the Jonsson Rowland Science Center Hirsch Observatory at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute hosted its own program. Students and observatory volunteers were on hand with eclipse glasses and four solar telescopes to aid in viewing the eclipse at RPI. Volunteers also spoke in general about astronomy, explaining what happened during the eclipse and sharing interesting features that observable during the eclipse.
“The last total eclipse to brush the United States was in 1979 and that one was only through a few states and that was pretty short,” said Jake Weiss, a physics graduate student at RPI who organized the viewing party there, “but since then, there has been one annular eclipse in 1994 to touch the United States, and now, we have this one here going across the entirety of the United States.”
Several hundred people attended the viewing at RPI, with those who did get a glimpse at the eclipse saying it was a neat firsthand experience.
“I was able to see a tiny chunk of it. It was a tiny part of it on the bottom right side,” said 9-year-old Elias Prodger, of Saratoga. “It was pretty cool to look at. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
Meanwhile, the Girl Scouts hosted their party at Camp Is Sho Da on Manix Road. Participants there were able learn the science behind the eclipse and safe ways to view it. In addition, there were several other eclipse-related, hands-on activities
“We opened up our viewing party to families, girls and their brothers to come by to spend some time having some fun, and they can participate in many activities related to the eclipse,” said Mary Buszuwski, CEO of Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York.
The Girl Scouts provided ISO-approved solar eclipse glasses, ice cream sundaes and solar bead bracelet kits to about 125 participants.
“I think this is awesome,” said Christina Carey, who came with her children. “My one daughter is a little disappointed that we don’t live in a place where we’re getting a total solar eclipse, but we will take what we get for where we are.”
A partial or total solar eclipse occurs somewhere on Earth about twice per year. The next major one viewable in upstate New York will occur April 8, 2024.
For more information about Monday’s eclipse go to http://eclipse2017.nasa.gov.