At 2:43 p.m., Elon and Alamance County witnessed the first solar eclipse to sweep across the United States in 99 years.
The Elon area was able to see a partial solar eclipse with a maximum of 93 percent blockage of the sun by the moon. The path of totality, where day becomes night, passed over Oregon and ended in Charleston, South Carolina.
Students, faculty, staff and members of the Elon community gathered throughout campus with their eclipse glasses earlier in the afternoon to prepare for the eclipse.
13-year-old Timothy Felten, son of Peter Felten, assistant provost for teaching and learning, saw the eclipse in front of Inman Admissions. When Felten had asked the astronomy department at Elon for eclipse glasses, they instead asked for his help in using a solar telescope. Tony Crider, associate professor of physics, needed someone short to help with the telescope and sought Timothy’s help.
The telescope projects the image of the sun much larger and enables one to see when the eclipse is coming across as well as sunspots.
“It was very cool,” Felten said. “It was nothing like I expected.”
Despite the cloudiness that occurred throughout the time the eclipse occurred, those gathered in front of Inman cheered at the glimpse of the eclipse they could see.
The last time a total solar eclipse swept across the width of the United States was in 1918. The next time a total solar eclipse will occur in the United States is on April 8, 2024.