'Overwhelming joy': Those who came from near, far enjoyed eclipse totality in Wapakoneta
The atmosphere was joyous as hundreds of people watched the eclipse from the lawn of the Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio.
The city, in Northwest Ohio, was in the path of totality, and the museum's festivities — including food trucks, a DJ, shave ice, T-shirts and museum tours — drew many visitors from near and far to the birthplace of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon.
As the DJ announced two minutes to totality, cheers and applause sounded, people wrapping blankets around themselves as a chill snuck into the air, and the wind picked up. As darkness slowly began to blanket the lawn, people looked up through their eclipse glasses, exclaiming about the beauty of the sun and sky.
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The sky was an ethereal, almost eerie shade of blue — the eclipse white around the edges in what one astronomy enthusiast called a "diamond ring effect," caused by streams of sunlight peeking through the moon's mountains.
People gathered in Wapakoneta got nearly four minutes of totality, but the joy of the occasion began before totality and persisted long after. Families danced on their blankets to the sun- and moon-themed music blaring from the DJ's speakers, kids and adults enjoyed shaved ice from a food truck and many took selfies and photos of one another to mark the occasion.
"Beautiful," is the word Stella Tong, 11, used to describe the total solar eclipse from her viewpoint, lying on a grassy hill in front of the museum.
"It was amazing, it was absolutely amazing," said her dad, Christian Tong, 51.
The family — which also includes mom Amanda Tong, 48, and son Leo, 7 — traveled from their home in Tampa, Florida, to Cincinnati to get treatment at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for Leo, who has a rare health condition.
"It was great to be right on the center of totality," said Christian Tong. "It was amazing. It was absolutely amazing."
Christian Tong also noted the nice weather, and Amanda Tong enjoyed the atmosphere of the museum's event.
“We love it. The people set up with their gear, the interactive things for the kids, the music. The whole vibe is good," she said.
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After totality, the event's DJ asked the crowd to cheer if it was their first solar eclipse, and many cheers went up. Including, likely, that of Owen Clark, 8, who lives in Pataskala and was viewing the eclipse from the museum's lawn with his mom, Jessica Clark, 41, and his brother Camdyn Clark, 11.
"Worth it," Owen said, of the eclipse. "It was a bunch of money, but it was worth it. It was a once in a lifetime experience, at least for me," he said, glaring in jealous jest at his older brother, who saw the partial 2017 eclipse as a preschooler.
"The full was way better," Camdyn said. His favorite part? The darkness.
Michael Latka, an astronomy enthusiast, brought a special telescope to look at the sun and saw a red solar prominence, like a flare but lasting longer, that showed up during totality and after. It was on the bottom edge of the sun and was much bigger than the circumference of the Earth, he said.
Latka, from Jackson, Michigan, worked as an industrial engineer at a company that produced parts for the Apollo missions and moon rockets.
As for the eclipse as a whole, Latka said it was "absolutely magnificent."
Emotionally and visually magnificent, Latka said, and he felt "a burst of awesomeness" looking up at it.
Doug Hansell, 67, and his wife BJ, 64, came from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to see the eclipse in totality.
The couple had been planning to come to Wapakoneta to view the eclipse for about six months. They bought a telescope a few years ago and have since traveled to see stars and planets around the nation.
Hansell said he has seen partial eclipses but never a full one. The partial eclipse, still, was "a spiritual experience," he said.
For him, it highlights human's place in the universe — and how "we're just a tiny piece of what's out there" — and seeing the total eclipse brought Hansell feelings of "overwhelming joy."
It brought tears to his wife's eyes.
"It was just such an overwhelming experience," she said. "You can't believe this is happening in front of you, it's like seeing a baby being born."
dking@dispatch.com
@DanaeKing
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Those who came from near, far enjoyed eclipse totality in Wapakoneta
