Our readers, our eclipse
Kathleen Woodford Mineral Independent | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 years, 2 months AGO
Even pony Applejack got into the action during the 2017 solar eclipse. (Photo courtesy of Ceciley Bean)
Members of the Bean family catch a glimpse of the solar eclipse in Alberton on Monday, Aug. 21. (Photo courtesy of Ceciley Bean).
Luca DiGiando, 7, looks at the eclipse through a homemade viewer using a giant cereal box. (Photo courtesy of Darlene Kuprienko Jasper).
Lottie DiGiando, 4, Lane DiGiando, 9, and Perri Jasper, 9, made sun and moon sugar cookies to celebrate the eclipse. (Photo courtesy of Darlene Kuprienko Jasper).
Ryan Evans, Rudy Lynn Evans, Alexei Stalpaert and Shannon Stalpaert traveled from Huson to enjoy the eclipse during festivities at the Alberton Community Center on Aug. 21. (Kathleen Woodford/Mineral Independent)
Family and friends gathered at the Mineral County Library in Superior to view the eclipse. (Photo by Florence Evans)
Boaz McGuffey checks out the sun through his special glasses in Superior. (Photo by Florence Evans)
Using viewers made out of cereal boxes, Lily Jasper, 6, Lane DiGiando, 9, and Perri Jasper, 9, view the eclipse. (Photo courtesy of Darlene Kuprienko Jasper).
The Montana Space Grant Consortium worked with students and faculty from Montana State University and across the U.S. and sent up balloons to photograph the eclipse of the sun. (Photo courtesy of Montana State University)
Fifty-five teams across the U.S. sent up balloons to capture video of the eclipse including one launched from the University of Montana. (Photo courtesy of Montana State University).
Willa Fredette, 5, creates a nebula in a jar using cottonballs and glitter during children activities in Alberton on Aug. 21. (Kathleen Woodford/Mineral Independent).
On Aug. 21, people gathered in town parks, neighborhoods and on mountain tops to witness one of nature’s biggest phenomenon, the eclipse of the sun. One has not been seen in North America since 1979 and it was the first time that the path of totality crossed the entire continental United States since 1918.
The Northwest saw the moon cover about 92 percent of the sun, while the shadow, which is a corridor about 70 miles wide, started in Oregon and traveled to South Carolina where people witnessed total darkness for about two minutes at any given spot.
People traveled from all over the world to catch a glimpse of darkness. Hotels sold out, airline tickets sales were up and merchandise such as T-shirts and coffee mugs were sold to commemorate the event. Solar eclipse glasses sold for 45 cents to more than $300 and several locations sold out.
Connie Acker, with the Alberton Public Library, ordered eclipse glasses from Star Net last spring. Star Net partners with libraries and offers science-technology activities and other resources. They ordered 200 pair but received 1,000. She said they sent extra glasses to Frenchtown, Missoula and Superior because they were in short supply. On Monday, Acker said they’d handed out well over 100 pair in Alberton.
Festivities were held at the Alberton Community Center by the library and the PEAK Foundation. Starting at 10 a.m. there were children’s activities and lunch was served. Kids were able to make nebula jars out of cotton, glitter and food coloring. They also made moon sand from flour and baby oil, and jewelry from UV reactive beads.
The Mineral County Library in Superior also held activities and some people created their own brand of fun. Kate DiGiando and Darlene Kuprienko Jasper baked sugar cookies for their kids to decorate as the sun and moon. They also made viewers out of cereal boxes and held a dance party to “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” a popular Bonnie Tyler song from the 1980s. Others found themselves floating down the Clark Fork River wearing eclipse glasses.
There were other ways to view the eclipse besides glasses, for example through a common metal kitchen strainer or through the leaves of a tree. The reflection of the eclipse filtered through these objects and cast a shadow onto the ground. There was even a way to take a photo of it using a cellphone. Anything except looking directly at the sun, which can cause eye damage.
People sat on blankets and lawn chairs and kept their protected eyes on the sun as the moon edged closer to it. As the clock ticked close to 11:30 a.m., which was when the eclipse peaked, the surroundings became dimmer and birds became quiet. However, several people commented how surprisingly bright it was considering 92 percent of the sun was covered. Temperatures dropped in places and everything seemed to slow down for a minute. But liked a stalled engine, as soon as the moon began to pull away from the sun, everything revved-up back to normal.
One of the bigger events to take place was the Montana Space Grant Consortium which started working with students and faculty from Montana State University and across the U.S. in 2014. Their mission was to capture live images of the eclipse from the edge of space using high-altitude balloons. One of the eight-foot balloons was launched from the University of Montana in Missoula.
There were 55 teams who launched 75 balloons, each equipped with a live video system which live-streamed at about 80,000 feet. Each balloon and ground-based dish system cost $3,500 with a portion of the funds coming from the NASA Science Mission Directorate.
People who missed the eclipse or just want to see more can catch the next one in 2019. It will be in the Pacific Ocean and reach the west coast of Chile and move across parts of Argentina. The next one to be seen in the United States will be on April 8, 2024 and will go from Mazatlan, Mexico to Newfoundland, Canada. It will include the U.S. cities of Dallas, Cleveland, Dayton, Indianapolis, Buffalo and Rochester.