Eclipse day brings excitement to D.C.
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Eight-year-old Owen Jason watched in awe as the sun, moon and earth all aligned.
“We have a crescent sun,” Jason said looking up.
Anderson Durrant and his friends saw their first eclipse, too.
“My favorite part was watching it go from golden banana to pitch black,” Durrant said.
Viewers of all ages gathered at the National Mall and looked to the skies to see Washington D.C.’s partial eclipse.
“It was really neat. It was kind of funny because at one point, just as it was getting to the 87%, a cloud moved across and gave the appearance of totality,” Patrick Clerkin said.
The National Air and Space Museum, along with NASA and other groups hosted the festival. They set up solar telescopes for people to see the sun up-close.
“It makes it safe to look through the sun. On the telescope, we’re actually magnifying the sun, so you can see features such as sun spots,” Astronomy Educator Mariel O’Brien said.
NASA recommends wearing special solar eclipse glasses, which are thousands of times darker than sunglasses, so you can safely look at the sun.
Dewey Norwood is visiting from North Carolina. He couldn’t pass up the chance to see the solar event.
“I think it all points back to the importance of science,” Norwood said.
The next time a total solar eclipse will cross the U.S. be in 2044.
“Try to catch it when you can,” Brent Barron said.
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