Mitchell Quartz
outside@suunews.com
The rain and cloud cover did not deter people old and young from coming to Main Street Park Monday morning to try and catch a glimpse of a solar eclipse, the likes of which have not been seen in nearly one hundred years.
According to “greatamericaneclipse.com” Monday’s total solar eclipse was the first total eclipse visible to everyone in North America since 1918, making it a special moment for everyone who was able to view it. Unfortunately, the crowd who gathered at Main Street Park for the eclipse viewing party were unable to see the eclipse due to heavy cloud cover and light rain.
Although the eclipse wasn’t visible through the clouds people were still able to learn about the astrological phenomenon from experts, such as Kaleb Smith, Vice President of the Southern Utah Space Foundation and Cedar City native.
“It’s a special event because of the distance between the moon and the earth being perfect enough for it to block out the light from the sun,” said Smith.
Smith used a flashlight and styrofoam ball to offer a visual representation of the science behind the eclipse to fascinate children.
Several people brought telescopes with special solar filters to view the eclipse with; one was a self titled basic astronomer Dan Jones, a Cedar City resident who brought two telescopes to view the eclipse. Jones’s telescopes were equipped with specialty filters that allowed the sun to be viewed. According to Jones, viewing the sun through the telescopes without these filters would cause serious eye damage.
As the time for the eclipse grew closer and closer, it became apparent the clouds and rain were not going to dissipate in time for the phenomenon to be viewable in the Cedar area. Following the eclipse, several participants said they were disappointed they weren’t able to see the eclipse, but it wasn’t going to ruin their day.
