Keene clouds give way to stunning eclipse

Apr. 9—KEENE — Clouds gathered, vanished, then reappeared Monday morning into evening, frazzling the nerves of several hundred on hand around Southwestern Adventist University's Thomsen Observatory hoping to witness a once-in-a-lifetime North Texas celestial event.

"It's been an emotional rollercoaster," said Oklahoma resident Joshua East, who traveled to Keene seeking prime viewing acreage for Monday's total eclipse. "We woke up this morning and said, 'Ah, it's raining.' Then it was grey clouds. Then they parted. Then they came back. We were just up and down hoping for the best."

Fortunately for East and the rest of the crowd scattered across SWAU's campus, nature cooperated dissipating clouds shortly before the moon passed in front of the sun dropping temperatures and bringing night to midday.

Whoops of cheer and glee rang out among the eclipse glasses sporting crowd as the moon moved into position blocking all but the sun's corona.

"Thank God, that's the only thing I can say," East said once the eclipse concluded. "We had perfect skies for totality."

East's brother, Zachary East, brimmed with excitement as well.

"If the clouds would've stuck around through the totality that would've been so sad," Zachary East said. "But everything turned out perfect in the end, the best we could have hoped for."

The East brothers were not alone in their assessment of the day.

"I thought it was incredible," Crowley resident and self-described amateur astronomy enthusiast Michael McMearty said. "I was not expecting it to be as spectacular as it was during totality but it was completely surreal with the coloration and the way the light came through differently than any other time."

Joshua East, an astro photographer, traveled to Keene from Oklahoma with his brother and uncle, Rodney East, to stay with local relatives for the eclipse.

A visit by the three several months ago to view October's annular eclipse also proved equally successful if initially problematic.

"The first place we wanted to go was clouded," Rodney East said. "So [Joshua East] is driving while I'm trying to figure out the weather and they're on the phone with their dad who was giving them directions and telling us to go a little bit further because the radar said it's clear."

That eclipse-chasing trip led them somewhere west of San Antonio, Joshua East said.

"Middle of nowhere, don't really know where we were," Joshua East said. "We kind of just pulled off the road somewhere to watch the eclipse."

From somewhere near San Antonio to Keene, the East family's interest in eclipses and astronomy will soon lead them even further from home.

"Africa at the end of this month, the 21st, we're heading for," Joshua East said. "It will be our first time there."

The Easts were hardly the only out-of-town visitors congregating in Keene on Monday. License plates from New Jersey, California, Utah, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Colorado and other locales dotted SWAU's parking areas.

"This will be our first time to see an eclipse and this is our first time in Texas," Andrei Nuremberg said. "We came here because statistically this is one of the best spots to see the eclipse."

A native of Brazil who now lives in Germany, Nuremberg traveled to Keene with several friends and relatives from Brazil.

Earlier Monday, before the eclipse, Nuremberg and his companions nervously scanned the sky, which became a common trait throughout the morning among them and pretty much everyone else on hand.

"It looks much better now than it did 10 minutes ago," Nuremberg said. "So we'll just keep our fingers crossed and hope it holds out."

Several minutes later, cloud cover returned.

Nuremberg commented on North Texas' 80 degree days leading up to Monday's eclipse.

"The last two days have been so hot," Nuremberg said. "I can't imagine what it's like here in July and August."

Dr. Jared Rice, SWAU assistant professor of physics, astronomy and math, spent much of the morning explaining and demonstrating telescopes and other astronomical equipment set up to enhance viewing options for the crowd on hand. Numerous other SWAU professors and volunteers joined Rice in working to make the day an exciting success for all present. A steady stream of people queued throughout the day for the chance to look through the Thomsen Observatory's big telescope. Elsewhere, food trucks, music, dogs aplenty and community atmosphere fueled the day's celebratory vibe.

Viewing a partial eclipse in Hawaii when he was 5 spurred Rice's interest in astronomy. Eclipse viewings in California, Wyoming and other spots followed.

Comet Hale-Bopp's 1997 earth drive by deepened Rice's science and astronomy passions.

"I was just about to turn 11 and saw it in the mountains with my grandpa's binoculars," Rice said. "I was already a nerd about science and dinosaurs and all that and, when I saw the comet, I thought, 'I've got to study that.'"

A gift from his parents, a book on astronomy, Rice received shortly after Comet Hale-Bopp's appearance still sits in his office.

"In the back of the book were eclipse table predictions," Rice said. "I said, 'Wait a minute. They can predict those things that far in advance?' The next total eclipse in America was 2017. So I was like, 'Mom, dad we've got to do this even though it was like 19 years in the future at that point. But I thought about it ever since making plans to get to Wyoming. We made our registration a year in advance to get there, and it was awesome.

Dr. Aaron Christian, a physics consultant and friend of Rice, joked that he and Rice have been eclipse chasers since their days in grad school together.

Earlier Monday morning, Rice said he was religiously watching weather reports hoping for clear skies as eclipse time approached.

Christian felt the same but remained upbeat.

"Even worse case scenario, if it stays cloudy, today will still be something exciting because we'll still be able to see the shadow of the moon creep across the bottom of the clouds," Christian said. "And it will still get dark so it will be exciting in its own way."

Fortunately, such was not a problem as clear skies welcomed the eclipse.

"Amazing," Rice said after the eclipse. "The totality was almost twice as long as the last [full eclipse] I saw. The clouds parted exactly as we hoped and we couldn't have asked for anything better."

Sentiments Nuremberg shared after the eclipse.

"Still in shock," Nuremberg said. "My heart was beating 100 beats a minute throughout the whole thing. It was insane."

Rice spoke of the wonder and emotional impact the eclipse engendered in him and many others present.

"Oh definitely," Rice said. "I absolutely cried during the first full eclipse I saw because I had been planning for that one for so many years. Today was equally emotional. It was just amazing."