On April 8, 2024, faculty, staff, and students gathered in the Quad at 2:40 p.m. to watch the total solar eclipse that was scheduled to occur at 3:10 p.m. With blankets, friends, and protective glasses, the Mount community was ready to witness the phenomenon of the moon covering the sun.
According to science.nasa.gov, "a total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. The sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk.” This 2024 cosmic event could be seen from Mexico, the U.S, and Canada. This eclipse has been one of the longest in duration, lasting four minutes and 28 seconds, whereas most former total eclipses lasted about two minutes.
From the Quad, spectators could see a partial eclipse using protective glasses. With the glasses, you saw a black background with a small red circle in the middle (the sun) and a dark form progressively covering the majority of it (the moon). Without the glasses, you could see the bright sun and the world around you getting darker and darker as if you were in some sort of sci-fi movie.
Everyone watched in awe as the moon went from one side of the sun to the other, an event so rare for Ohio that it is considered a once-in-a-lifetime event. A total solar eclipse happens every few years but can only be seen from certain areas of the world, making it a rare sight. In 2021, there was a total solar eclipse that was only visible in Antarctica and lasted one minute and 54 seconds, according to CBS news. The “Akron Beacon Journal” stated that the last total solar eclipse seen in Ohio was in 1806, just three years after Ohio became a state!
Hopefully you got to witness the 2024 total solar eclipse from the Quad, indoors, or by livestream!
Source: https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/