Approximately 3,000 SUNY Oneonta students, staff and community members came together on Monday, April 8, to watch the highly anticipated total solar eclipse on campus.
Donning special protective sunglasses, eclipse watchers of all ages turned their eyes to the skies while seated in lawn chairs, sprawled out on blankets and grassy patches, and huddled together in the President's Garden outside of Chase and the Milne Library.
From about 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., they took turns looking through solar telescopes, snapped selfies with mascot Red (who wore a jumbo pair of eclipse glasses) and cheered as the moon slowly passed between the earth and the sun, significantly darkening the sky and lowering the temperature of the air.
Inside the A.J. Read Science Discovery Center, visitors watched NASA’s livestream of totality and participated in space-themed experiments and activities. Science Discovery Center student helpers, dubbed “Celestial Guides,” counted 2,200 visitors and said they gave away 1,500 pairs of glasses. (Throughout the month of April, the Science Discovery Center will collect eclipse glasses, to be recycled and donated to school-aged children in South America so that they can enjoy an eclipse that will be visible there in October.)
To prepare for the special total solar eclipse, the A.J. Read Science Discovery Center created eclipse-themed exhibits, held themed shows at the Campus Planetarium, and hosted “The Laugh of Totality,” a science comedy show, on Sunday. Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Valerie Rapson demonstrated the importance of eclipse glasses in a series of informational social media videos, including one to show what happens when you expose an eyeball to unfiltered sunlight!
A total solar eclipse won't be visible again from the contiguous United States until Aug. 22, 2044.
In the Path of Totality
Some Red Dragons went the extra mile to view the solar eclipse from the path of totality. Associate Professor Dr. Joshua Nollenberg traveled with three of his physics and astronomy students to Cumberland Bay State Park, just outside of Plattsburgh, NY, to view the eclipse, setting up one telescope for imaging and another for viewing. They met up with two Oneonta alumni, saw the eclipse through high cirrus clouds, took photos, and enjoyed music coming from the adjacent Plattsburgh City Beach, which was hosting an eclipse-viewing party and concert.
Meteorology Club Travel
Five student members of the campus Meteorology Club traveled to Watertown, NY, to watch the eclipse there.
