As the solar eclipse reached its maximum at 3:04 p.m., the sky turned noticeably darker, and Chattanooga State Community College students, faculty and community members looked to the sky, watching as the moon blocked the majority of the sun.
“It’s very cool to be out here, with the band and my friends, just kind of chilling,” Chattanooga State student Aiyana Loher said in an interview.
The eclipse gave her a chance to see a demonstration of an event she’d recently learned about in her astronomy class, she said.
While Chattanooga was outside the path of totality, Sean Lindsay, senior lecturer and astronomy coordinator at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, previously told the Chattanooga Times Free Press the city would see an 88% partial eclipse.
Credit: Shannon Coan
Credit: Shannon Coan
The watch party was hosted by Chattanooga State’s Student Astronomy Club. Connor Gautreaux, the club’s president, saw the total solar eclipse that bisected Tennessee corner to corner in 2017, which is why he was excited to host the event as it could be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for some of his peers.
The next total solar eclipse that will be viewable from the U.S. is expected on Aug. 23, 2044, according to NASA.
“To me, this is going to be a more exciting event than the last one,” Gautreaux said in an interview. “It’s at a school with a ton of my friends. We all get to experience this together. I think that’s going to be awesome. It’s not going to be the 100%, but I think even with 90, it’s going to be just fantastic.”
As the eclipse’s peak neared, those with eclipse glasses passed them around to give others the opportunity to see the event, while others looked to the ground to track the leaves’ changing shadows.
Richard Clements, an environmental science professor at Chattanooga State, set up a telescope with a solar filter that displayed the eclipse’s progress in Chattanooga, giving those without glasses a way to safely look at the sun. On another screen, footage tracking the path of totality allowed attendees to compare the two views.
Credit: Shannon Coan
Credit: Shannon Coan
He said he hoped the eclipse gave students “a sense of wonder and appreciation” for the fact that humanity has been able to look up at the sky and predict such events since antiquity.
“Anytime you have an opportunity to increase the scientific literacy of anybody, that’s a good thing,” he said.
On Tuesday, Charles Law, a NASA Sagan Fellow at the University of Virginia, will give a talk at the college on planet formation. While the timing is slightly coincidental, he hopes the excitement around the eclipse can be carried over to a slightly different topic.
“It’s a chance to share astronomy with large groups of people,” he said of the eclipse. “It really just helps connect people broadly. Really gets them interested into science, into astronomy. It also just gives you a moment to think about your place broadly in the cosmos.”
Credit: Chattanooga Times Free Press
Credit: Chattanooga Times Free Press
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