SOLAR ECLIPSE
viewed from the valley
On Monday, the Imperial Valley had the opportunity to experience a phenomenon that had not been seen in the country in 38 years.
The last time a total solar eclipse had the U.S. in its path was in February of 1979.
This year, the total solar eclipse gifted people from Portland, Oregon to the west to Charleston, South Carolina to the east with an indescribable cosmic experience, while the rest were able to witness an intriguing partial eclipse.
Locally, some schools had students out to witness the eclipse as the moon slowly started partially blocking the sun, while other schools opted for having their students remain indoors and observe the total eclipse from a NASA livestream.
At Central Union High School, chemistry and environmental science teacher Madaleine Macholtz took her students out and had them experience the eclipse through pin-hole projectors. She taught her students how to filter the light of the sun using their hands and see the reflection of the sun on the floor.
“It was a fabulous experience, it really was great for the students, it offered them a unique opportunity,” Macholtz said.
She added that the most memorable part of the day was to see the reaction of her students, who at first couldn’t see anything but the complete round projection of the sun, and how they became extremely excited once the moon started to creep out of nowhere to partially block the sun.
The students also got very excited once the light that filtered through the leaves of trees also began to change and look crescent-shaped.
“For me, it isn’t about looking at it directly,” she said. “The most powerful way to show the students is playing with the shadows and see the crescent begin to show in the light coming from in between the shadow of the trees.”
Although only a partial eclipse was seen here in the Valley, Doris Robinson who lived in El Centro for 14 years and attended Calexico Union High School (CUHS) was able to get the full, total eclipse experience in her new home in Weiser, Idaho where she has lived for the past four years.
Robinson said that NASA rented open land near her home where they set up to take photos and footage of the heavenly spectacle.
At approximately 11:25 a.m. is when she saw the moon fully cover the sun. Robinson said this was the first time she has ever experienced an eclipse, during the event she saw her town go dark for two, full minutes causing street lights to turn on.
“When I looked up, I saw this beautiful ring around the sun. It was a very unique experience,” she said. “I didn’t want to stop looking at it.”
For her, the most stunning sight during the eclipse was the pure beauty of it, but she also said that what made it special was how quickly the light from the sun dimmed and got obscured in addition to the drop in temperature from approximately 90 to 75 degrees.
“It was a wonderful feeling that is hard to explain. I was completely amazed by how everything went from bright to complete dark and then again to bright in such short time,” Robinson said.
The town where she now lives has a population of more than 5,000 residents. She said that for the eclipse, at least another 10,000 visitors were in town including tourists from Denmark, France, Japan and Russia to experience the full phenomena.
In addition to the experience students had at CUHS and other schools around the valley, some members of staff from the County Office of Education had a great experience on Monday morning.
ICOE STEM Coordinator John Lazarcik, who had made his own pinpoint projector, was expecting to watch the eclipse by himself, but a few staffers, including one with a pair of glasses designed to look at the eclipse, joined him in an impromptu watching party.
“We had a lot of fun and the reactions were priceless,” Lazarcik said.
He noticed how much anticipation the eclipse generated and was happy that many different school districts had varying ideas of how to experience the eclipse, including a district that allowed parents to pick up their children to be able to share the experience as a family. After all, it was a great opportunity to expand the conversation about science.
“It was great, having the opportunity to see the phenomena together and talk about it,” Lazarcik said. “Every time I have the opportunity to discuss science education with my colleagues, it’s awesome.”